School Avatar
by kzschool
Summary: Avatar characters set in modern times. Problems occur and drama unfolds as Aang, Katara, Toph, Sokka, Suki, and Zuko come face to face with their own issues to deal with in the modern world.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

**Old Beginnings and New Ends**

"Katara wait up!" Aang yelled running excitedly behind his girlfriend.

"Sorry Aang, I'm just excited! It's the first day of school and I can't wait!" Katara slowed down to a brisk walk so Aang could catch up.

"Awww, but we won't be going to the same schools so we won't get to see each other as often now that summer's over." Aang lamented now caught up with the smiling Katara.

"Don't worry, we can hang out after school and we can still walk to school together. Hey Sokka hurry up!! You're gunna make us late!" Sokka, her bother, came wobbling up far behind them still asleep it seemed.

"I'm going as fast as I can. Besides we'll be fine. We still have at least 15 minutes till the first bell rings anyway!"

"We're almost by Suki's house though…" Katara stated slyly, she knew how to get her brother to hurry up. "You don't want to miss her do ya?"

"SUKI!!" Sokka exclaimed "I almost forgot she lives around here!!" Sokka kicked it up into high gear and ran ahead. "SUKKKKKKKKKIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!"

Aang and Katara laughed and continued walking on. "School's gunna be so boring without you." Aang said.

"Hey, Toph goes to the same school as you. I'm sure you guys will have lots of fun!"

"Yeah I guess" Aang said kicking a rock on the ground.

"Hey!! Took you guys long enough!! We were about to give up on you!" Katara and Aang looked up to see Sokka smothering Suki with hugs and kisses and a very agitated Toph next to them tapping an impatient foot on the ground.

"Sorry Toph, we were just—whoa!! Toph!! What are you wearing??" Aang was quite taken aback by the young girl's choice of wardrobe for her first day back to school.

"It's my uniform, duh!" Toph said crossing her arms.

"But that's the BOY'S uniform," Aang said, still a bit confused. Toph was dressed exactly as Aang, in the Shi Middle School boy's uniform. Tan shorts, a white shirt, and black vest with the school seal. Her hair was pulled back in a low pony tail and if you didn't know Toph was a girl, you would swear she was a boy.

"So?" the young her said picking at her ear "I wasn't feeling the girl's uniform at all, it was so uncomfortable and the skirt wasn't doing it for me. Besides I think I look better in it."

"Toph you can't see…" Aang protested

"I know, which makes it all the better." The young blind girl retorted and stuck out her tongue.

"But—"

"Aang it's ok, Toph can wear whatever she wants." Katara said putting her hands on his shoulders.

"Yeah, besides, Toph looks kind of cute in it," Sokka said rubbing Toph's head.

Toph blushed "Thanks."

"Well we can talk about clothes on the way to school. We're gunna be late if we just keep standing here," Suki said making the first move to go.

"Suki, I love it when you're right." Sokka said, kissing her on her check.

"Yeah, I know." Suki said laughing as they began to stroll down the side walk with Toph, Aang, and Katara behind them.

"So Toph how's Suki as a roommate?" Katara asked, trying to start a new conversation.

"It's ok. I mean, it's a lot better than living with all of you guys in a tent outside." They laughed as they continued down the street.

"Well looks like this is your stop guys." Suki said standing out side the gate to Shi Middle School. "Toph, Sokka and I are gunna go shopping after school, so if I'm not back before you, I left the key in the normal spot."

"I know I know. Geeze, I'm not a helpless little girl ya know…"

"Sorry." Suki smiled. "Have fun"

"You too." Toph smiled. "Well twinkle toes. You ready?"

"You go on ahead. I wanna talk to Katara for a little." Aang said while Sokka and Suki continued to go on ahead and Katara looked at Aang curiously.

"Whatever just don't expect me to help you out if you're late" Toph shrugged while turning to walk into school.

"Don't worry I'll be quick!" Aang shouted back.

"What's on your mind Aang?" Katara said.

"It's just, we're finally together, and now we have to be apart again. I was kind of hoping summer would last and we could spend more time together. And I just know school's gunna be so boring without you."

"Aang, it's ok. It's only during the day. And besides, we have all weekend to hang out."

"Promise?"

"I promise." Katara gave Aang a kiss on the cheek. "Now have a great first day."

Aang smiled "You too." And ran to try to catch up with Toph.

Katara smiled and ran to catch up with Suki and Sokka.

...--...

"These uniforms are actually a lot nicer than I thought," Suki said "I like the colors anyway."

"And I like how the uniform fits you…" Sokka decided to end his thought after seeing a very disgusted and annoyed look from Katara. "I mean, you look nice too Katara…I just think it flatters Suki more," Sokka said eyeing Suki.

"Well I think yours doesn't do you any justice at all. But then again, nothing does." Katara said increasing her pace so she was slightly in front of the giddy pair. Suki and Katara were both wear matching uniforms. Dark navy blue pleated skirts, light blue oxford shirts, navy blue ties, and a cream v neck vest with the school emblem on the left. The only difference was the socks. Katara had black knee highs while Suki had white ankle socks. Sokka was sporting the male slightly different version of the uniform: navy blue slacks, a white oxford shirt, an extremely loosened tie, and a cream sweater he had taken off and slung over his shoulder. He was definitely wearing the most casual version the school allowed. Just then the bell rang.

"Oh no we're late!!" Suki screamed as she sprung forward into a sprint.

"AHHHH I can't be late!! It's the first day of school!! I can't get in trouble yet! It's too early!!" Sokka cried trying to catch up with Suki.

"Then let's MOVE!" Suki yelled grabbing Sokka by the collar and pulling him to catch up with her.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!!" Sokka yelled as Suki zipped past the school's gate, into the building, and up the stairs.

"HEY!! WAIT FOR ME!!" Katara screamed trying to catch up. As she rounded the gate she plowed head first into an unsuspecting victim.

"Oooof!! S—sorry…" Katara said rubbing her head.

"It's ok, I'm late too."

Katara stopped. She knew that voice. She looked up and saw Zuko getting up and picking up the books he had dropped. Unlike her brother, Zuko was defiantly dressed more formal than Sokka. Zuko wore the navy blue slacks (unwrinkled and perfectly pressed), a crisp white oxford shirt, perfectly tied tie, and the Fa Xian High School navy blue jacket buttoned up. Katara had to admit that Zuko was dressed very impeccably. Zuko fixed his jacket and turned to look at the girl who ran him over. "Oh, it's you…" Zuko trailed off returning to perfecting his already perfect uniform.

"Yeah. It's me." Katara said a little stunned to see him here. "I didn't know you went here. I thought that, well you know, because of your family you'd go to a different school—"

"What does my family have to do with where I go to school," Zuko stated coolly.

"Well, you're family's pretty strict and seems to have high standards…" Katara stuttered realizing bringing up his family was a bad idea, "and I just imagined you would go to a better…more…private school…"

"You mean like the kind that's populated by rich snobs who look down on the outside world?" Zuko turned to glare at her, a bit hurt by what she said.

"No!! I mean, well…I'm sorry. I was just surprised to see you, that's all." Katara bowed her head, a bit embarrassed. Zuko turned to leave.

"My sister goes to one of those high strung private school. I was going to too, but I thought it would be best to be as far away from her as possible…" Zuko trailed off and continued on to class. Katara looked up to see him far off walking further away.

"He's so weird…" Katara said. The second bell rang. "NOOOOO!! Now I'm really late!!" Katara screamed running to find her class.

...--...

"Soooo…." Aang said resting his head on his desk, obviously bored by the class's lesson. "What do you think Katara's doing right now?" He whispered Toph who was sitting next to him on his left.

"Don't know, don't care."

"Do you think she's thinking of me?"

"…"

"Hey!" Aang picked up his head, excitement rushing through his 12 year old body. "Do you think she's thinking the exact thing I'm thinking about except it's me she's thinking about and not her?"

"Whatever…"

"Do you think she misses me?"

"No I don't, because I don't see how anyone can miss someone quite as annoying as you!!" Toph hissed. Aang frowned put his head back down and stared forward.

"Do you think she's learning about math right now too?"

"Ughh!! Just go see if you can find her during lunch!" Toph said. Aang picked his head up.

"But I'd only have an hour to go down there and try to find her. What if I don't make it back in time?"

"Well then you'll just have to sit and wait for school to be out then. And while you're waiting it would help to just SHUT UP about Katara!" Aang put his head back on the desk.

"Katara said it would be fun going to school with you."

Toph sneered "It would be if you'd stop talking about Katara and use your energy to talk or do something interesting with me"

"Like what?" Aang said. The teacher got up to go to the chalk board.

"Pull a prank on the teacher?"

"But how?"

Toph grinned "Like this…" the blind girl slid her foot on the ground which made the earth move the teacher's chair just as soon as he went to sit down.

"WHAT THE…?!" The teacher screamed as he fell on his butt in front of the whole class. The class burst into laughter. Toph put her hands behind her head and looked at Aang smiling.

"All you have to do is use your imagination." The bell rang, signaling the beginning of gym class.

...--...

Katara sat at her desk and looked out the window. She felt ashamed of how she handled her interaction with her old acquaintance. Sure she and Zuko talked, and even bonded before, but she still didn't quite consider him her friend yet. After all, there was a long break from the last time she talked to him to this morning. She went through the conversation over and over again in her head wondering where a simple question of why he went to school here turned into an insult about him and his family. She knew something had to have been troubling him too with his sister. His sister Azula was pure evil but Zuko seemed to know how to handle her. She must've done something terrible to Zuko this time to make him so easily agitated…but what…?

"Katara!" Katara was launched back to reality.

"Yes?" Katara responded sheepishly.

"Since this lesson obviously bores you, why don't you enlighten the class with a lesson that will hold your attention for more than a few seconds?" The teacher scolded. Her voice was sharp like broken glass.

"I'm sorry ma'am. It won't happen again."

"It better not!" The teacher glared at Katara before continuing the lesson.

...--...

Sokka could not have been happier. Not only did he not get in trouble for being late, but Suki was in the same class as him, no teachers got on him for dress code, and best of all…he was sitting next to the nerdiest kid in the school! School was going to be a breeze this year as long as they never changed seats and the teacher never caught on to him stretching to the right every few minutes during tests. The only bad part about the seat arrangement was that Suki was towards the front on the left. Sokka was more in the middle, but being the clever guy he is, Sokka created a sneaky way of passing notes to keep communication between him and his love strong. Just then the door opened and in walked someone Sokka had almost forgotten, Zuko. Zuko stood in the door way and looked around as if he didn't belong.

"Ah, here he is!" The teacher said motioning for Zuko to come to the front. "Class we have a new transfer student from the Royal Academy School for Boys." Zuko shyly made his way to the front looking down at the ground. "Could you please introduce yourself?"

"Hi. My name's Zuko, and I am honored to be studying here."

"Alright, well welcome Zuko. We hope that our school can keep up with your past school's prestigious reputation. Class, please make Zuko feel at home too." Zuko took his seat in the back on the room on the right. A small group of girls in the back left of the room watched Zuko and giggled. Sokka looked at Suki who was dumbstruck and looked at him back.

"OMG IT'S ZUKO WTF?!" Sokka motioned/mouthed to Suki. Suki just shrugged. Sokka turned to look at Zuko to only discover Zuko looking at him. He had obviously seen Sokka's hand gestures to Suki. Sokka just smiled at waved at Zuko. Zuko rolled his eyes and the teacher began class.

...--...

Toph and Aang were taking a break from the kickball activity the class was doing and were sitting on the bleachers talking.

"So how am I gunna get to Katara's school and back again without getting caught?" Aang said lying down on the bleacher, looking up at the clouds passing by. "I could use airbending to run really fast, but that's a bit risky, and I think if I took my glider people would freak out if they say a kid flying around."

"That's why you gotta go UNDER the city. We'll both earthbend a tunnel from here to the high school. That way we can go and visit whenever we want and no one will know."

"Wait, you're gunna help me?" Aang got up and gave Toph a questionable look. Toph smiled,

"Yeah. I kind of wanna see Sokka, and seeing Suki and Katara would be fun too." Aang still wasn't satisfied.

"Why do you want to see Sokka so much?"

"Cause he's the only fun guy there is anymore." Aang glared at her. "What? It's true! He's 10 times funner than you'll ever be."

"Ok, ok…but about this tunnel. Where are we gunna put it?" Toph got off the bleacher and jumped to the ground.

"First we gotta find a nice quiet hidden spot that no one would bother. Someplace where no one would even think to find a tunnel." Aang jumped down next to Toph.

"I've got an idea!" Aang grabbed Toph's hand and ran in the building. The two of them ran through the building to an empty bathroom on the ground floor.

"Where are we?"

"One of the boy's bathrooms. No one uses this one because it's so out of the way and…people say it's haunted…" Aang whispered the last part adding wavy arm movements and "ooooOOOOoOOO" sounds.

"How do you know all of this?" Toph said looking around the room, quite impressed and unfazed that she was in the boy's room.

"I heard some kids talking about it in the locker room." Aang joined her exploring the room. "Look! There's a closet here!" Aang and Toph looked into the closet. There were several empty shelves, old coat hangers, hooks, and title ground.

"Perfect spot Tinkle Toes." Toph smiled walking inside and began to feel the title with her foot. "This is where we can make the opening. We'll need to mark it so we can just bend the title off every time we use it." Aang grabbed a coat hanger and bent it so it made a sharp writing utensil.

"Got it!" Aang marked the titles. As he put the hanger on one of the shelves he glanced back at the dusty clock on the wall. "We don't have much time left for class."

"We'll come back at lunch and start. Hmmmm, we might not be able to visit them today. This might take some time."

"Awwww!! But I wanted to see Katara today!"

"You will," Toph said getting annoyed "just not today." Toph thought for a second. "We're gunna have to go on a field trip to their school before we dig too." Aang looked at her.

"Why?"

"Well we know where to put the opening on this end, but we don't know a good spot to come out on. People would find it odd to see 2 kids just pop out of the ground like daisies."

"Can we at least dig half way then until we know exactly where to come up at?"

"I guess it couldn't hurt, but first we gotta get back before they notice we're gone."

"Fine" Aang said joining Toph on the way back to gym class.

...--...

The bell rang for lunch. Relieved that she could have a break from such a boring class and strict teacher Katara gathered her lunch she made for herself and Sokka and ran out to the courtyard. Once outside she scanned the grounds for familiar faces. Her eyes finally found Sokka and Suki sitting in the grass against the wall of the school under the shade of a tree. Once again, Sokka had succeeded in finding the perfect spot to eat.

"Finally you're here! I'm starving!" Sokka grabbed his bag from Katara and rummaged through it "What did you make me today?"

"Nothing special. I was kind of in a hurry today since we woke up late so I just packed a sandwich and some beef jerky."

"What?! But I'm so hungry!!" Katara glared at Sokka. He was never happy when it came to food.

"You can share some of my lunch." Suki offered.

"You are the best girlfriend ever!" Sokka hugged Suki. Katara unwrapped her sandwich and remembered her morning encounter with their old friend.

"I ran into Zuko today."

"Yeah! He's in our class." Suki said.

"I wonder why he left his old school. I wanted to ask but he seemed kind of distant." Sokka said chowing down on his jerky.

"Zuko's so weird. No matter how close we get to him he always stays his distance." Katara said taking her first bite.

"Well we didn't really stay in contact over the summer." Sokka pointed out. "Besides, I'm sure it's nothing. He's a pretty cool guy and I'll bet he'll warm up to us soon."

"He said something about his sister, so I think it might not be nothing." Katara pointed out.

"Azula? Really? You think she's up to trouble again?" Suki said taking out her lunch.

"Maybe. I just wish Zuko was easier to talk to so we could ask."

"What are you talking about Katara? Zuko's a sweet heart." Sokka laughed, "You seem to be the weird one, not him. I think you gotta lighten up."

"Maybe I should." Katara looked around. "I don't see Zuko anywhere. He's not eating by himself is he?"

"Knowing him he probably is." Sokka said trying to snag some of Suki's lunch.

"We'll invite him to eat with us tomorrow." Suki said playfully fending off her food from Sokka.

...--...

Zuko sat on the building 3 roof. He walked over to the edge and looked down. He could see Sokka, Suki, and Katara all eating lunch together under a tree next to the building 1. He sighed and went back to his lunch. Zuko created a small flame from his hand to heat up the tea his uncle made for him. He hated being at a new school surrounded by people he didn't know. He was glad that Katara, Suki, and Sokka were here. He was also happy that he was in the same class as Sokka and Suki. It was a little weird to be in the company of them after so much time had gone by and no contact whatsoever happened between them. He hadn't even heard from Aang, but at least he was in familiar company.

Zuko took a sip of his tea and looked into it. He had moved to the city to live with his Uncle. He hated living with his father and sister. They didn't care at all about him. His father only cared about himself and Azula. The only reason he even stuck around was for Mai, but he finally decided that he couldn't take it anymore, and if Mai cared for him, she'd come and visit. It wasn't too far away, just an hour or so.

Mai was pretty much the only thing he actually liked about living in that snotty rich area with Azula and his dad. Azula and Mai were old childhood friends along with their other friend Ty Lee. All three of them were attending the Royal Academy for Girls.

Zuko put his tea down and reached inside his bag. He pulled out a rolled up piece of paper and unrolled it. It was a letter from Mai. Zuko read it and sighed. He really did miss Mai, especially now that he was alone. Especially now after he ran into Katara. During the summer Katara and Zuko had grown close, too close for Mai's comfort. To sooth her jealously Zuko promised not to get so close to Katara, which was partly the reason why Zuko had stayed out of contact with them. It was hard to talk to everyone without talking to Katara, and vice versa. The only way to keep his promise was to avoid all of them altogether Zuko concluded. Zuko put the letter away and wondered what Mai would do if she knew he was going to the same school as Katara. He decided it would be best to just not talk about it with her. Besides, maybe it's best. Zuko can be friends with Sokka again while at the same time keep his promise to Mai.

Getting away from the snob society wasn't the main reason Zuko left for the city though. A few weeks ago Azula mentioned something about his mom. Zuko's dad drove her away a long time ago. Zuko was convinced that she was the only one, besides Mai, that truly loved and cared for him. His whole life he thought she was dead, but his father revealed to him that she was still alive. And now, Azula telling him and even teasing him with the idea that his mom was still alive and in the city was just the thing Zuko needed to finally pack up and go.

Zuko ate his lunch and looked out at the skyline of the city from the school. "Where are you mom?" he thought.

...--...

Mai sat down on the edge of the fountain that took up most of the courtyard behind her school.

"Not eating today?" her friend Ty Lee said plopping down beside her and pulling out her lunch.

"I'm just not in the mood." Mai rested her head on her hand and slouched.

"You really shouldn't skip meals. It's bad for your body cause it throws off your metabolism."

"Whatever…" that was Mai's favorite answer to everything.

"It's Zuko isn't it? You miss him." Mai looked at Ty Lee and smiled.

"Yeah, I guess he's finally gotten to me," she looked up at the sky "And I actually do kind of miss the jerk." Mai looked at Ty Lee and they both laughed.

"You could always go and visit him. I'll go with you! It'll be like a fun little road trip! I'm sure he'll be happy to see us…well at least you." Ty Lee began to chow down on her home made chicken salad.

"I would, but I think I want to make him wait a little more. Plus I don't know if Azula would like it so much to know her best friends ditched her to spend quality time with her brother."

"Well, Azula seems pretty busy with school so I'm sure she won't notice you missing. I'll distract her for you." Ty Lee smiled. She was always in a good mood. It sickened Mai who was constantly dreary, but lately Ty Lee's sunny disposition was oddly refreshing. Mai smiled.

"Whatever."

"What are you guys talking about?" A dark shadow covered them from the right.

"Hey Azula! Mai's skipping lunch again and I'm trying to persuade her to eat." Ty Lee smiled trying to put some of her salad into Mai's mouth with her fork. Mai pushed her away disgusted. Azula raised her eyebrow, not completely buying Ty Lee's somewhat true lie.

"Really? Why aren't you eating Mai? Do you think you're getting fat?" Azula crossed her arms and smirked at her friend. Mai glared at her.

"Just not in the mood."

"Really? Cause I have an extra fruit tart it you want it." Azula sat down next to her friends. "It's really nice that Zuko's out of the house," Mai flinched at the sound of his name, the exact reaction Azula was intending to get. "Now I can focus better on school without him moping around the house and father can focus his attention and money on me."

"You don't miss him at all?" Ty Lee said trying to divert Azula's focus from Mai to her.

"Not one bit. What about you Mai?" Mai looked at Azula and looked away.

"A little, I guess…"

"Really? I can't see why. I mean, it's not like he misses you right? He hasn't called or came to visit. My dad and I are actually upset that he refuses to stay in touch." Mai gritted her teeth. Azula had a strong grip on her friends. She was the class president and had influence over all the teachers there. If she even sneezed and no one said "Bless you" she could have them expelled at a whim. Plus like Zuko, she had a secret. She could also manipulate fire. Mai and Ty Lee were the few who knew of her secret and also knew that she was pretty talented with her gift.

"I'm sure he has his reasons." Ty Lee said trying to end it. Mai looked at Azula and then at Ty Lee. She looked down again.

"Whatever."

...--...

Lunch was soon over and Katara went back to her class while Sokka and Suki went to theirs. Suki and Sokka were both surprised to find that Zuko was the first one there. Before they could sit down and talk to Zuko in private though, the rest of the class seemed to flood in. As class began again, Sokka tried to get Zuko's attention to try to mime out messages to him, but Zuko never looked up once. He just kept starting at a piece of paper he had in his hand. After a few more minutes of discreetly failing his arms in vain, Sokka gave up and focused his energy on passing notes to Suki.

Suki! I've got something really important to tell you!

-Sokka

What?

-Suki

I wuv you!

-Sokka

Ok seriously…what?

-Suki

What are we gunna do about Zuko? We gotta talk to him, we can't just ignore him. But how are we gunna get close to him? He won't look up at me at all no matter how many hand gestures and bird sounds I make!

-Sokka

We'll just talk to him after class. It's not like he'll just get up and run as soon as the bell rings. Don't stress so much about this. What do you need to talk to him about so badly?

-Suki

Well I'm curious as to why he transferred. And Katara's got me wondering about what Azula's up to. It also wouldn't be so bad to be able to talk to him like we used to. I miss having another guy to talk to.

-Sokka

I'm sure he's got a good reason for transferring, and I doubt Azula's trying to start trouble. But then again, that's kind of what she's famous for. But what do you mean you need another guy to talk to? You've got Aang right?

-Suki

He's only 12! He also doesn't go to school here and the soccer team needs another guy and I'd be the hero if I can recruit one! Zuko's pretty strong so if I can get him on the team the guys will treat me like a God!

-Sokka

Do you do everything only for your own personal gain?

-Suki

Not everything I do is for my own personal gain! I do other stuff too. Sometimes.

-Sokka

...--...

"Finally lunch time!" Toph said getting up from her desk to stretch. "Why do we get fed so late here anyway? Is it cause they think kids don't need to eat as much?"

"Probably just cause we get out later than other schools in this area. Besides we don't have time to eat! What about the tunnel!"

"Ok, I understand you're excited about our project, but there's no way I'm bending before eating. Besides, today's meatloaf day!" Aang slumped trying to keep up with Toph who was running straight for the cafeteria.

"Fine we'll eat. But can it be quick? I really wanna get started."

"Alright. As soon as I get my meatloaf we can go."

...--...

_Come on Katara, focus. Don't fall asleep! I'm sure this lesson is very important…somehow…_Katara thought trying hard not to doze off and get in trouble for the 3rd time today.

"...and that concludes today's history lesson." _Thank you Yue! _Katara praised her old friend, the moon spirit.

"Now before we move on to our next lesson…" _Ahhh, too good to be true_ Katara slumped back in her chair. "This week don't forget to think about what elective you would like to choose for this term. Tomorrow we will be going to the elective fair in the gym so you can see what our school has to offer. Remember that you can try out a class for a week before switching but if you haven't changed classes within a week, you won't be able to transfer out of that class until the next semester." Katara thought about this. _Maybe Sokka, Suki, and I will be able to have a class together after all. Hopefully our classes will go to the fair at the same time._

"Now we will begin our next lesson with a quick quiz to see how much you know." _Oh god, this is the worst first day ever._

...--...

"Ok, your earthbending isn't as great as mine, so I'll go first." Aang rolled his eyes at his cocky friend.

"I'm just as good as you are…"

"Oh yeah? Beat this…" Toph removed the title pieces and bended the earth to reveal a beautiful spiral staircase winding down to a narrow underground pathway. Aang was quite impressed but tried not to show it.

"Oh…big deal." Toph laughed as she walked down the stairs to continue the tunnel. Aang dragged on behind her. "It's pretty dark down here. We'll have to come up with a way to light the tunnel."

"Well I can see with my feet, and you can firebend can't you?" Toph said bending more earth out of the way making the tunnel deeper.

"Yeah, but about the others? They can't firebend, and what if they want to visit us?"

"Aang, I'm gunna be honest. No one, would want to visit a middle school."

"Katara would!" Aang protested.

"Not ahh"

"Uh huh!"

"Not ahh!!"

"Uh huh!!" They continued their childish bickering as they moved forward with Toph continuing the tunnel. After 15 minutes of bickering and taking turns earthbending, the kids had to call it quits.

"Lunch is almost over, plus we're almost there and we don't even know exactly where we're going." Toph stated as she turned to make her way back to the entrance.

"Alright. Man, Katara's gunna be so thrilled to know about this! I can't wait to tell her…wait no! It'll be a surprise!" Aang said already getting excited with the idea of his own "Cave of Two Lovers" just for Katara and him.

"You really gotta calm down about Katara. I know you guys are together, but it's really getting annoying." Toph said a bit agitated how the whole day with her Aang just wanted to talk about Katara.

"Sorry, I'm just happy. Thanks Toph." Aang glomped Toph and was greeted with a punch.

"Hey! Keep your happiness to yourself! Besides, we only have 3 hours left before school's done."

...--...

Dear Zuko,

I know you're leaving for a good reason, but I still feel like I might miss

you. It's probably hard to imagine, but without you here this place will

easily be 20 times worse. Please don't forget about me and remember

to write often. If you forget even for a day about me I will never forgive

you. Just remember not to do anything stupid while you're away and

remember to come back idiot. I know I've been stupid too in the past,

but I want you to know that I trust you. More than ever. And when

ever I eat fruit tarts I'll think of you, well, I'll try to. Take care you

big dope.

Love,

Mai

Zuko read his letter. Each time he read it, it made him smile. Sure it wasn't the most thoughtful or romantic letter he's ever gotten, but the fact that it came from Mai made up for it. He knew how she was, deadpan and sarcastic 100 of the time, but that was just her odd way of showing affection. He glanced at it again before putting it away, laughing at himself for being touched by being insulted. Zuko looked a head at the teacher writing notes on the chalk board. Zuko tried to copy them but ended up getting distracted by his own thoughts. It had been two weeks since he left, and he still never received a letter from Mai. He even sent her 2 letters and still no reply to those. _She's probably just busy with school_, he thought, _that or she's trying to show who wears the pants in the relationship_. He chuckled to himself. He liked how no matter what she always had to be the strong one.

Without really thinking Zuko glanced around the room. He saw Sokka and Suki writing notes back and forth giggling. He noticed another group giggling behind them. The girls from earlier in the morning were looking at him whispering to themselves. Once they realized he was looking at them they stopped and looked serious. Then one waved at him very nonchalant. Zuko blushed and waved back which caused the girl to blush and turn to her friends frantically whispering a squee of joy. Zuko sighed and put his head in his hand. The girls began to giggle which caught Sokka and Suki's attention. Zuko glanced up to see Suki and Sokka looking at him. They froze and quickly looked away, Sokka frantically scribbling something in a note for Suki, he looked a bit annoyed. He sent the note to Suki before glaring at Zuko and crossing his arms his nose in the air.

Oh so Zuko has time to be THEIR friend but not ours??

-Sokka

The bell rang. Their teacher wrote the homework on the board and dismissed the class. Sokka and Suki quickly gathered their things and waited for Zuko's move. The class shuffled out leaving Zuko scribbling down the assignments from the board. Suki and Sokka walked over to his desk.

"Hey Zuko! Long time no see, eh?" Sokka said trying to be as causal as ever.

"Hey. What's up?"

"We were kind of surprised to see you here." Suki said getting straight to the point. Zuko looked irritated at the comment and grabbed his books.

"Why is everyone so surprised to see me here? Why do you guys care so much about where I go to school? Am I not allowed to grace this free education facility?" Zuko got up and headed to the door.

"No it's not that at all." Suki said not realizing how easily offended he was. "We just didn't expect to ever see you again, especially not in a place like this."

"Yeah, we were surprised to see you, but it was a pleasant surprise." Sokka added hoping it would calm Zuko down.

"Well I'm glad that you all thought I was a snob who stuck it nose up at government paid schools like my father and sister." Zuko sneered. He began to walk out but stopped himself and took a deep breath in. He turned to them, "and I'm glad to know you were happy to see me." Sokka and Suki smiled.

"So Zuko, tell us how ya been." Sokka said slinging his arm around Zuko's shoulder and casually walking down the hall with Suki following. "And tell me, what are your views on soccer?"

...--...

Katara waited at the school gate for Sokka and Suki. She was going to go to meet up with Aang at his school, but he still had school for another hour. Katara checked her watch before hearing her brother's voice.

"Katara! Hey!" Katara looked up to see Sokka, Suki, and Zuko walking towards her.

"Hey!" she waved back smiling. _So they did get Zuko to warm up to them, _she thought. Zuko saw her and froze.

"Actually, I really gotta go home. I have work today and I want to finish my homework before." Zuko blurted out to Suki and Sokka. "Let's meet up later though ok?" Suki and Sokka exchanged questionable looks as Zuko looked at Katara and then sprinted out down the street and out of sight. Katara was dumbstruck.

"What was that all about?" Sokka said. Suki just shrugged.

"Well…" Katara said trying to recover, "I've got an hour before Aang gets out, do you wanna get something to eat?"

"Yeah! I'm starving!!" Sokka exclaimed. Katara smiled and they all walked down the street to find a place to eat. They walked down some streets before Suki spotted a sign.

"Look! There's a tea shop down there. You wanna check it out?"

"Sure, it looks nice." Katara said noticing the shop's Chinese like façade.

The three of them entered the building. All sorts of tea aromas filled the air.

"Table for three please." Sokka said as a hostess greeted them. They were led to a small booth on the far right of the shop.

"Our special tea blend today is a Jasmine with a hint of Lavender."

"That sounds good, I'll try that." Katara said.

"I'm gunna need a minute." Sokka said skimming through the menu drooling over the items.

"Me too, thanks" Suki replied as the waitress smiled and walked away.

"This is such a pretty tea shop," Katara said admiring the interior, "It kind of reminds me of someone…but who?" out of the corner of her eye she saw the figure of a young man dash behind a curtain. "Wait a minute!" Katara could have sworn the guy was looking at her before running.

"What's wrong?" Suki asked.

"I think I just saw Zuko, but he ran behind that curtain so I didn't get a good look."

"Why would Zuko be here though?" Suki said. Right then the pieces clicked for Katara.

"Because this is his Uncle's tea shop…"

"That's right! Zuko's Uncle owns a tea shop. I guess this is it huh?" Sokka said taking a breaking from the menu.

"Yeah, but why would Zuko hide? Unless he was hiding from me…" Katara looked down. Why was Zuko so afraid of her? Was it because of this morning? Or was it something else. Whatever it was Katara tried to put it in the back of her mind; she didn't want get frustrated over Zuko, not now anyway.

Katara's tea came first, then Suki and Sokka's tea, and then Sokka's beef teriyaki. As soon as Katara was finished with her tea she checked the time.

"Aang will be out soon. I'm gunna get going to meet him." Katara rummaged through her purse, "Here's money for my tea. I'll see you two later!"

"Bye Katara!"

"I'll let dad know where you are if I get home before you." Sokka said taking a bite out of his snack.

"Thanks!" Katara made her way out and towards Shi Middle.

"This is the best teriyaki I've ever had!" Sokka exclaimed munching some more on his food.

"Even better than mine?" Suki said sipping her tea smiling.

"Way better!" Suki shot him a poisonous look. As they continued to chit chat around their snack an elder man was walking around the tables wiping some down. As he came closer to their table he glanced up and spotted their uniforms.

"You kids go to Fa Xian High right?" Sokka and Suki looked up at him. "My nephew goes there so students from that school get 15 percent off their tea." The old man smiled warmly at them.

"You're Zuko's uncle! I'm Sokka. We met over the summer." Zuko's uncle looked at him.

"That's right! I remember you." He looked over at Suki, "And you must be Suki, right?"

"That's right. It's been a while." Suki smiled remembering meeting the old man for the first time.

"Yes it has. I told my nephew he should keep connects with old friends strong, but you know him. He's so stubborn. The only way he can learn things is through experience."

"Zuko has been acting a little weird though." Sokka said taking a break from his snack.

"How so?" The old man questioned.

"Well he keeps running away from my sister, Katara."

"That's odd. I thought they were friends."

"We did too. But I guess their relationship is more strained than we thought." Suki said looking into her tea.

"I will try talk to him about it. It's not polite to ignore old friends, no matter how odd things get. Especially not a young lady."

"Thanks." Sokka smiled

"Anytime. Are you enjoying the tea?"

"Yes! It's very good." Suki said. Zuko's Uncle smiled.

"Glad to hear that. Feel free to come back anytime you'd like." He picked up his rag and continued his round.

"Since we get 15 percent off, let's take Katara's change and buy some more Teriyaki." Sokka whispered to Suki.

...--...

Zuko sat on his bed thinking. He had Mai's letter in his hand. He was staying with his Uncle Iroh in the apartment above his tea shop. He had a small room on the second floor all to himself. The room was very quaint, with a small desk, a chair, a closet, a window, Zuko's bed, and a dresser. Zuko put the letter down on the desk and looked out the window. He could see a lot of the city from where he was. The sky was a beautiful light blue and there was a nice breeze. He wondered if it was nice like this where Mai was.

"Ding-a-ling" Zuko looked down to hear the bell on his uncle's tea shop door jingle. Down below he caught sight of Katara running out of the shop and down the street towards the school district. Zuko wondered how long he could keep this up.

_I wonder if she saw me today. What an idiot I must look like, running behind curtains. It's my tea shop, I'm allowed there, I shouldn't have to hide. _Zuko thought bitterly. It's not like he didn't like Katara, he did a lot. And that was why he kept avoiding her. He did miss being her friend, but if it meant losing Mai, then he would rather lose Katara. Zuko closed his window and started his homework assignment. As soon as he was finished he would go down and help Uncle with the shop.

...--...

"So, you and Katara have plans today?" Toph said standing next to Aang just outside of their school. The release bell rang a few minutes ago and they were waiting for Katara.

"I think we're just going to go for a walk. I don't think we have anything solid down." Aang said skimming the horizon for Katara.

"Alright. Well as soon as she comes I'm gunna go home. I'm so tired."

"Ok, thanks for waiting with me." Aang thought for a second.

"Wait, what about the tunnel!? We gotta go to the high school remember?"

"Can't we do it another time, I'm tired!"

"Fine." Aang crossed his arms in disappointment.

"Look, just enjoy your day with Katara. Tomorrow after school we'll go."

"Aang!" Katara came running up the street.

"Katara!" Aang ran for her and they embraced in a hug.

"Hey Toph, were you waiting for me too?" Katara said smiling.

"Yeah, I just didn't want twinkle toes here to be lonely." Toph punched Aang.

"Well that was nice. Do you want to do something with us Toph?"

"Nah, I'm pretty tired. I was just gunna go home and rest."

"Want us to walk you to your house?" Katara offered. Toph looked annoyed.

"No, I'm fine. I am perfectly capable of making my way home."

"Alright. I just didn't want you to be lonely, that's all."

"I'm fine Katara, really. Now you two have fun. I'll see you later." Toph started walking home.

"Bye Toph!" Aang said.

"Bye!" Katara said after her. Toph continued walking and raised her hand and waved back at them.

"So do you wanna go down to the park? There might be something going on there." Aang said trying to come up with something for them to do.

"Sure. I haven't been down there and I've heard it's beautiful." Katara and Aang made their way to the park.

"So how was your first day?"

"It was interesting. I ran into Zuko."

"Zuko? Really?"

"Yeah, he transferred from his school to ours."

"Well that's good, I haven't seen Zuko in a long time."

"Well, I thought it would be good too, but he seems to not like me…"

"What? Why? How could anyone not like you?"

"I don't know, he just seems to be avoiding me and when we do talk he's really distant."

"He's probably just shy. It's been awhile since he's seen us so I'm sure that has him off guard."

"I guess." Aang smiled at Katara and held her hand. As soon as Aang picked his head up he saw something that caught his eye. "Hey! An ice cream vendor! Let's go get some!" Aang let go of Katara and sprinted ahead. Katara smiled, shook her head, and followed behind him.

...--...

"Zuko?" Zuko turned to hear a knock on his door.

"What is it Uncle? I'm doing homework."

"When you're finished I could use your help downstairs. It seems like we will be very busy tonight."

"Alright, I'll be down in a bit." Zuko went back to his homework. He was almost done. As soon has he finished he put his apron on and went downstairs.

His Uncle wasn't kidding. There was almost a full house tonight and several more people lined up outside waiting for a table.

"Can you help wait tables? We're a bit short handed today." Zuko Uncle said walking behind him to enter the kitchen.

"Where did all these people come from?"

"Probably back from their summer vacations. But we'll talk later. They need help now." Zuko went to the first table that looked like they needed help.

"Are you ready to order?" Zuko looked up to take their orders. He found himself in the presence of familiar faces.

"We might need a few more minutes." One of the girls said giggling after. There sat Zuko's little fan club from school. Zuko sighed, _This is gunna be a long night…_

...--...

Suki entered her apartment to find Toph lying on the couch playing video games.

"Have you eaten yet?" Suki asked taking her shoes off.

"Not yet. I've been waiting for you to get home."

"Alright, I'll whip something up. You weren't home alone for too long were you?" Suki asked getting some pots and pans ready.

"Not really. Just an hour or so. I thought you'd be out with Sokka longer."

"We were going to stay out longer, but we decided not too. We were both kinda tired from school. How'd your day go by the way?"

"It was ok. It would've been better if Aang wasn't so obsessed with Katara." Suki laughed.

"Give it some time. I'm sure it'll die down."

"I hope so."

...--...

Hakoda looked at the clock. It was almost dinner time and Katara was still not back. He thought Sokka would be out late, but Sokka came back before her.

"Take it easy dad, she's out with Aang. They're probably chasing some poor animal around so Aang can try to ride it." Hakoda smiled.

"You're probably right. Should we eat without her then?" Just then the front door opened and in ran Katara.

"Sorry I'm late!" she said fumbling to get her shoes off. "I was out with Aang by the park and then I walked him back to the temple and we lost track of time."

"It's ok. We were about to start without you."

"Yeah, and you only made dad get worried sick about you." Sokka added mustering up the best fake tears he could. "What would we do without our little Katara baby…"

"Oh be quiet!" Katara said, her hands on her hips. "What's for dinner today?"

"Nothing special. Just the usual. Stir fry and rice."

"My favorite." Katara smiled at her dad.

"So tell me about your days" Hakoda said. "How did everything go?"

"No complaints." Sokka said digging in.

"It was alright. We had a quiz already and tomorrow there's going to be an elective fair for us to chose what class we want to take for our elective."

"That's sounds fun. Do you already have something in mind."

"Not really. I'd like to take an art class, you know, something fun and easy."

"I just want an easy class." Sokka said pausing to take a sip of water. Hakoda laughed.

"Well I'm sure whatever class you pick, you'll be happy. Just remember to keep an open mind. You may find something special in a class you never thought you'd take." Katara smiled.

"Thanks dad."

...--...

"Late again Aang?" one of the monks said spotting Aang trying to sneak in.

"Sorry, I was just out with my friend and I lost—"

"No excuses! The floor was supposed to be swept hours ago and that was you responsibility. Please see that it is done now." The older monk barked and walked away.

"But I—" the monk turned around

"NO EXCUSES!!" Aang slumped down in the corner next to the broom.

"No fair. Why do I always have homework on top of homework to do…"

...--...

"That's the last of the customers Uncle." Zuko said as he dropped off plates in the kitchen. "I'll go lock the front door." Zuko was so relieved that the day was over. How had it gotten so busy so fast? Zuko locked the door and switched the "Open" sign to read "Close" to people walking by.

"I'm thinking of putting up a help wanted sign," Uncle Iroh said sitting down at the bar with a hot cup of Peach tea. "Every day we get more and more customers. Plus it would be nice to have another hand to help out for closing. All our waitresses can't stay till closing."

"I'm sure it'll get less busy soon." Zuko said beginning to wipe down some tables. He hated the idea of hiring another person. It would just mean one more person to have trying to talk to him and being his friend.

"Still, I'm too old to run this shop by myself. Expect to see the sign outside tomorrow." Zuko sighed, Uncle has made his decision. "By the way Zuko, some of your friends from school came by today. They seemed very friendly." Zuko froze. He didn't like where this conversation was going. "I was very pleased to see Sokka and Suki. I'm disappointed with you for not keeping in touch with such good people." Zuko sighed with relief, so uncle hadn't run into Katara with them. Good. "Sokka also mentioned his sister." Crap. "He says you've been acting very weird around her. Running away and even avoiding her completely." Zuko spun around angrily.

"SO?! What of it?! Why does it matter how I treat anyone?! I'm nice to her brother, and to their friends, isn't that enough!? Why is everyone so bent on me being nice to Katara? Why does everyone care!?" Zuko withdrew from his outburst and went back to cleaning.

"Because Zuko, it is not polite to treat nice people the way you have been. Katara only cares about others, she cares about you, and she does not deserve the treatment you've been giving her." Uncle took a sip of his tea and glanced at his nephew. Something else was bothering him. "I fear that your actions are not because of Katara alone. What's troubling you?" Zuko stopped wiping the table.

"It's Mai…" His uncle looked puzzled.

"Who?" Zuko spun around.

"MAI!" he took a deep breath in, "my girlfriend…" Uncle thought for a second, then remembered.

"Ahh, Azula's gloomy friend that sighs a lot…I remember her." Uncle Iroh did not want to admit it, but he did not approve of his nephew's taste in girls, but he thought it was not the best time to discuss that and decided to keep his opinions to himself.

"Yeah," Zuko smiled at the thought, "Katara and I became really close friends, and I liked it," Uncle's eyebrow went up and he put his tea down and leaned in to listen better, "but Mai didn't. She was jealous and she made me promise to never be that close to her again. I accepted because we went our separate ways and I didn't think I'd ever see Katara again. And now I go to the same school as her." Zuko turned to face his Uncle. "And now I meet everyone again and they all want to be friends. I'm fine with that except in order to be their friend I have to be friends with her. And what's worse is that everyone around me wants me to be her friend and no one will drop it!" Zuko sighed out the rest of his outburst and sat down next to his uncle, resting his head on the bar. He picked his head up and looked at Uncle. "The thing is I want to be her friend and just not tell Mai. But would that be a bad choice?"

"Zuko, you can still be friends with Katara and remain faithful to Mai. I think you should get to know Katara and you will see that there is nothing between the two of you other than friendship. If Mai can't understand that, then my advice for you is to find another girl who can." _And when I say find another girl, I mean Katara._ Iroh smiled to himself. Zuko thought for a moment.

"You're right Uncle. I'm being foolish acting this way. I should be more like an adult and just face this head on. I'll stop ignoring her." Zuko picked up his rag and continued wiping the remaining tables. Uncle just sipped his tea smiling at himself. _I've still got it._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**Free Time**

"Sokka wake up! You're gunna make us late again!" Katara yelled banging on his door.

"I'm up!" was the only response. Katara went back to the kitchen to finish making their lunches.

"Did you get all your homework done?" Hakoda asked reading the paper.

"Yes dad, and I'm just about done with our lunches." Hakoda smiled.

"That's my girl." Sokka emerged from his room, dressed sloppily as usual. "There's my warrior."

"Morning." Sokka wobbled over to the kitchen to get something to eat.

"Hey warrior, eat fast. I don't want to be late again." Sokka was too tired for a comeback.

"Katara, you seem to have a lot of free time on your hands. Why don't you think about joining a club or doing a sport or hobby?" Hakoda said skimming the headlines.

"Free time? I have school and taking care of you guys, and Aang…"

"Oh, God forbid you don't spend time with Aang…" Sokka interrupted.

"Hey! What about you and Suki?"

"That's different."

"How is it different? You two spend just as much time together as Aang and I do."

"It's different because we're not dependent on each other."

"I'm not dependent on Aang!"

"I know, but he's dependent on you."

"No he's not!"

"Face it Katara, you've got a needy boyfriend…"

"Ok now stop it you too. All I mean is for you to take time for yourself Katara, that's all." Katara tried to simmer down as she finished with her and her brother's lunch.

"I'll see what I can squeeze into my busy schedule."

"What about a job? That way dad doesn't have to spend so much on you"

"Shut up Sokka!"

"A job would be good. You should get one too Sokka."

"I'm already on the soccer team! What more do you want?"

"Just keep your eyes open for more opportunities. The busier you are, the less likely you are to get into trouble."

"Alright dad, I'll keep my eye open…" the doorbell rang "that must be Aang! Let's go Sokka!"

...--...

"Hey Katara! Hey Sokka!"

"Morning…" was all Sokka's reply as he hobbled out.

"Hey Aang," Katara kissed his cheek, "You look beat. Did you have a ruff night?"

"Yeah, the monks made me sweep the whole temple! And then Momo and Appa started to fight and I had to resweep the entire place! It took forever!"

"Seems like you don't have too much free time, huh?" Katara said looking down, feeling a bit guilty that she made him stay out late with her.

"I would if the monks would just get off my back about chores and let me just be a kid!"

"Maybe we should find a better way to manage our time. That way we can balance out school, life, and our relationship."

"What do you mean Katara?" Aang was hoping she wasn't going to say what he thought she meant.

"Well, I mean that—"

"Suki!" They had reached Suki's house and Sokka was already making a mad dash to the finish line.

"Alright, we know you two love each other," Toph spat crossing her arms.

"There's nothing from with affection," Aang said as he and Katara walked closer taking her hand.

"Great! More couples to rub it in my face that I'm single. Well you know what? I'm glad I am. I don't need anyone to make me happy."

"Really? Cause I was happy to see you too Toph." Sokka said giving Toph the usual head rub. Toph blushed.

"Oh, thanks Sokka…" Toph turned to walk and once she was sure no one could see her, she smiled. They all continued to follow Toph towards the middle school to drop Toph and Aang off. Aang's head was still racing with the idea that Katara was going to suggest the thing he didn't want to hear. _Just a few more yards and hopefully she'll forget about the idea and things will go back to normal. _Aang was planning on going to school and Katara forgetting about it. They got to the school and Toph and Aang said goodbye and turned to go.

"Wait Aang! I kinda wanted to talk to you about our free time." Katara said putting her hand on Aang's shoulder to keep him from going.

"Can we talk about this later? I don't want to be late."

"But—"

"Thanks for understanding Katara!" Aang said as he made a dash to the building.

"No problem…" Katara said looking down at the ground. Aang always ran away from things he didn't want to face. And that was something she knew he needed to work on.

...--...

"Free time huh?" Suki said as Katara pitched the idea.

"Yeah, I kinda do agree with my dad, that I need to be doing something, a bit more productive then running around with Aang. I mean, I'm distracting him from his duties at the temple. Plus we'll always have the weekends, and we don't really need to see each other everyday…"

"You do when one of you is needy…"

"Stop Sokka! Aang is not needy! He's just…really affectionate!"

"…needy…" Katara growled at Sokka and was about to tackle him if it weren't for Suki.

"Stop it you two. Katara I think you're dad's right, you do need to be doing something. I don't think you should let Aang hold you back."

"I know, I just don't want Aang to get upset at me. You know he doesn't understand things sometimes—"

"—cause he's needy"

"THAT'S IT!!" Katara bended muddy water from a puddle and whip it at Sokka causing him to be soaking wet and dirty.

"Katara! What the hell?!"

"Hey, you brought it on yourself…" Katara said walking in front of them with her nose in the air.

"You two are both to blame!" Suki yelled making both of them stop and stare. "Katara, you shouldn't let Aang walk all over you. If he loves you he'll understand. Sokka you should be supporting your sister, and when you do see something wrong you don't address it through teasing! Katara you really should control your temper and stop using your gift as a way to hurt people, and Sokka you kinda deserve that for being such a jerk!" Suki exhaled the rest of her anger, and looked at them, waiting for a revelation from one or the other. Katara was first.

"I'm sorry Sokka." She said as she bended the water off of him leaving him dry and covered with sand. He brushed the sand off of him.

"I'm sorry too Katara…" They continued walking. "…sorry that Aang is so needy…"

"I HEARD THAT!!"

...--...

"Toph, can I tell you a secret?" Aang whispered as the teacher began the math lesson.

"Sure!" Toph loved hearing secrets, but not as much as catching someone in a lie.

"I think Katara might not want to spend time with me."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I think today she wanted to say that we shouldn't spend so much time together."

"I don't blame her. You two see each other a lot. I'm sure she's sick of you. I'm sick of you and this is the most time we spend together."

"I can't help that I want to be with her. I thought that, you know, since we're together, she'd want to be with me too."

"She DOES want to be with you, just not all the time. I think you need to relax. Besides, you have other priorities. You're pretty much occupied with the temple, and I'm sure Katara's busy with school. I don't think you should take it so personally." Aang sighed. Toph was right, yet again.

"I know. I guess I just didn't want that to be the way it has to be."

"Just for now. I'm sure things will get better." Aang smiled at Toph. Then he remembered something…

"TOPH! The tunnel! We forgot to go to their school!"

"I guess we could've gone if we had free time. Too bad you were spending it with Katara…"

"Hey, all you did was sleep—"

"Sleep AND play video games. Someone's gotta beat Monster Busters, and I doubt Suki will. Besides, I didn't want to go by myself."

"Alright." Aang felt defeated. "I guess I under estimated _my_ free time…"

"You two! Pay attention to the lesson! You'll have plenty of time to talk after class…or in detention. I'll leave you to choose."

"Yes sir!" Toph and Aang said shooting straight up in their seats.

...--...

Katara sat half listening to the teacher and half brainstorming ideas on what to do with her free time on the side of her notes. She could join a school team but she couldn't think of one that interested her. She could join a club, but that would still give her a lot of free time. Or she could…

"Ok class. We're scheduled to attend the elective fair at this time. You can leave your things here; we'll be back before lunch." The elective fair! Just the thing Katara needed to see what she wanted to do.

Katara followed her class into the gym. It looked like there were hundreds of booths set up advertising all sorts of electives to take. There were also booths for school clubs. _Perfect_! Katara thought. Katara browsed through the cooking class's booth when she noticed Zuko reading a pamphlet for another class a little farther over. Katara's first reaction was to run up to him but she stopped herself. _He probably doesn't want to see me._ Katara tried her best to ignore him and continue looking at the booths, but she found it hard to ignore something when you're trying to ignore it. She continued to look at another booth about the ceramics class. When she looked back up at Zuko's direction he was gone. _He probably saw me._ Katara thought as she looked down. _I don't understand it, what did I do to make Zu—_

"Hey." She looked over her shoulder to find Zuko right next to her.

"Oh! You shocked me."

"Sorry. I just wanted to apologize for the other day. I hope I didn't offend you."

"No. Not at all. It was just a little…weird."

"Yeah. I've been that way since I transferred. But I just want you to know it's nothing you're doing. It's all…me…being the weird one…" Katara looked a little perplexed by his apology. I guess Zuko really wasn't good with words.

"You know, forget about it. We can always start over." Katara smiled. Zuko smiled back.

"Yeah, I guess we can."

"Hey! You two!" Zuko and Katara looked to see a black haired woman calling them from behind an empty booth that clearly had no students interested in it. "Come here. I gotta great class for you guys." Zuko and Katara looked at each other and shrugged. They walked over to see what she wanted.

"What class is this booth for?" Zuko said trying to find some clue from the plain booth.

"Gardening. The perfect class to go wild and do whatever the hell you want." Zuko wasn't buying it. He turned to Katara and noticed that oddly enough, she seemed actually interested. "Plus, right now you two would be the only ones in it if you signed up, so you'd have a whole class of doing nothing but spending time with your girlfriend." Katara and Zuko froze. Katara felt herself blushing and was hoping Zuko didn't notice.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Zuko screamed.

"And he's definitely not my boyfriend!" Zuko glanced at Katara from the corner of his eye. _Definitely? Ouch…_ Katara heard a gasp of relief and noticed it came from a group of girls no doubt stalking Zuko to sign up for the same classes as he did. _Disgusting…_she thought.

"Hey, just kidding around. But really this class is great. You can do whatever you want, I won't stop you. You can play in the dirt and get messy. It's an easy A and you really don't have to do anything." Zuko realized something.

"Wait a minute. Don't I know you?"

"Depends."

"You're Jun! What are you doing here? You're a bounty hunter!"

"That's my night job, and lately it's not footing the bills. So I took up teaching. But I can't keep the job if no one takes my class, get it? So come on. Don't you owe me one anyway kid?"

"No!" Zuko said. Katara thought about this. It would be an easy A, she was always interested in gardening, a bounty hunter would be the teacher, and if all else fails she could use the class to get her homework done thus freeing up time to spend with Aang. Maybe she could convince Sokka to take it too. They get to pick 2 electives anyway so why not this class? Zuko had made up his mind though, "Come on Katara, I'm sure there are better classes to look at."

"Wait! I kinda want to sign up." Zuko stopped.

"WHAT?!"

"Yeah, it seems like it'll be fun. Besides, we get to pick two electives."

"Fine, go ahead and waste an elective on this crap, but don't say I didn't warn you that it was a bad idea."

"Well thank you for your fine guidance." Katara rolled her eyes at Zuko, "So how do I sign up?"

"Just fill out this form. But I gotta tell you, you won't be able to take the class if it's just you."

"What?" Katara's mouth dropped. How many people would she need to persuade to join?

"Believe it or not, two just happens to be the minimum…" Jun's eyes landed on Zuko.

"Oh no!" Katara spun around to him.

"Please! Just take it until I get more people to join. You can change it within a week, and even if not enough people will take the class you can change it anyway. Please!!" Zuko looked at Katara. Katara looked to see the group of girls still hovering around. She leaned in so only he could hear "If you join, those girls will join too so there will be plenty of people to keep the class."

"No Katara!" He was still the same stubborn Zuko, _which means he must still have the same conscious…_Zuko began to walk off.

"Fine! Then I WON'T forgive you for being so rude to me." Katara looked at Zuko. _Wait for it Katara…_Zuko stopped and turned around, defeated.

"signmeuptoo…" he mumbled.

"Sorry what was that?" Jun said cupping her hand to her ear.

"I SAID SIGN ME UP!!" Zuko screamed so loudly the whole gym fell silent and everyone began to stare.

"Just fill this out hun." Jun smirked sliding the paper towards him.

...--...

Sokka was with Suki looking at the booth for the painting class when Zuko came stampeding through the crowd to get to him.

"SOKKA! I NEED TO YOU SIGN UP FOR THE GARDENING CLASS, NOW!!" Zuko pretty much tackled Sokka to the ground.

"What? No way! I'm already taking modern dance with Suki!" Zuko stared at Sokka.

"Modern dance? They offer that here?"

"Yeah it looks pretty good too. I thought it would be all girly but it's pretty physical and educational."

"No kidding, that actually sounds interesting…wait NO!! You gotta sign up for Gardening! I mean, you still have one elective left right?"

"Yeah, but I kinda wanted to take the chess class."

"You mean the chess club…"

"No, they actually have a class dedicated to chess."

"Wow, this school has everything."

"I know it's great! Wanna take the class with me?"

"Well…" Zuko stopped. This was the second time Sokka got him off topic. "No! That class is for losers and dorks! Why would you even think of taking that class??"

"And you think gardening is more manly?" Sokka's eyebrow rose.

"Well, uh…yeah! I mean, you get to get dirty and sweaty! Nothing more manly than that." Sokka and Zuko stared at each other.

"Yeah, I think I'll pass…"

"Awww come on!!"

"Why do you need Sokka to sign up for gardening?" Suki asked wondering if she should try to pry Zuko from her boyfriend.

"Well it doesn't have to be Sokka. You could sign up for it." Zuko looked hopeful.

"Sorry…I'm already signed up to take painting."

"You can paint in gardening! I doubt Jun will care!! Come on, it's an easy A."

"Who's Jun?"

"No Zuko, we don't want to take it!" Sokka put his foot down.

"Look, the reason why I'm taking it is for your sister. She really wants to take that class and she can't take it if she's the only person in it."

"Well that was very noble of you Zuko. But I have enough of Katara as it is, I don't want to take a class with her."

"Well fine then!" Zuko stormed off. Katara caught up with them to only see Zuko's dramatic exit.

"Sorry, Zuko ran so fast, and this crowd made it even harder to keep up with him."

"Is it true you made Zuko take a stupid gardening class with you?" Suki said.

"Well, yeah. I mean, I was hoping you guys would join too so that way we'd have a class together." Suki and Sokka looked at each other. "Great idea right?" Katara smiled waiting for their reply. Unfortunately it wasn't one she was hoping for.

"Look Katara. I know you're my sister but, I really would rather sign up for something I'm interested in. Besides, you've got Zuko right? He's enough to keep the class alive."

"But Zuko will transfer out at the end of the week! And then it'll only be me and the class will be canceled." Suki finally gave in.

"Alright Katara. I know you really want to take this class…so I'll force Sokka to take it!" Katara was elated, Sokka not so much.

"What?! I'm not taking that class!" Suki grabbed Sokka and dragged him while she followed Katara to the booth.

"Oh come on Sokka. Gardening's good, besides you could use the time to bond with your baby sis."

"No Suki! This isn't fair! No!!" They stopped at the gardening booth and Suki turned on Sokka.

"Look Sokka, you are going to do this for your sister, and you are going to like it!!" Suki had fire in her eyes which led Sokka to cower in fear.

"Yes honey…" Sokka turned to Jun. "I'd…oh I can't do this!" Sokka sobbed grabbing on to Suki. Suki patted him on the shoulder.

"He'd like to sign up for this class please."

"Sorry. The class is full." Katara, Suki, and Sokka dropped their jaws.

"WHAT?!" Sokka was the first to recover looking up with his hands in a praying position.

"Yue!! I knew you still loved me!!"

"Yeah. The school didn't think this class would be popular so they only had 10 spots open for it. Go figure huh?"

"But, who signed up?" Katara said still bewildered that this class would be so popular.

"A bunch of girls signed up right after your boyfriend ran away."

"Must be Zuko's fan club." Suki said smiling.

"That guy has a fan club? Don't see how." Jun said resting her feet on the booth's table.

"I don't get it either." Sokka said, "But if it gets me out of this stupid class I'm fine with it!"

...--...

"I don't understand this school. Why do they insist on me taking this class when it's completely useless for me!" Toph said angrily kicking a nearby stone on the ground. Toph had gotten caught trying to skip gym for the 5th time in the same hour.

"It's not useless, it's good to keep your body in shape." Aang said standing next to her. They were all huddled in a group getting picked for kickball teams.

"Uh, hello…I'M BLIND!! All we do in this class is play sports, and I can't play 90 of them because I can't _see_ anything." She waved her hand in front of her face.

"Don't you use earthbending to feel where things are?"

"…you're right Aang. How stupid of me to forget how I use my talent to see. I should use the same technique to feel the vibrations to…oh wait! Now I remember why I can't do that…I CAN'T FEEL THINGS FLYING IN THE AIR!!" She screamed in Aang's ear.

"I'll take the short kid with the arrow on his head." One of the captains said pointing to Aang.

"Alright! 18th pick!" Aang ran over to join his team.

"Great…I'm gunna be last pick…what a surprise." Toph said putting her hands in her pocket. She hated gym. All it did was remind her of her "disability" and it rubbed it in her face. She felt the ground with her feet and saw that the remaining kid next to her was the fat kid. _Of course, it's down to me and the fat kid…I wonder who will get picked first…_

"I'll take the fat kid."

"Yay! I'm finally not last pick!!" The fat kid rejoiced as Toph spat completely insulted.

"Wait, I want the fat kid! You can have the blind guy."

"No way! It was my turn to pick, and I picked the fat kid!" The two kids started to fight.

"This is degrading!" Toph yelled as she stomped her foot down. As she did that the earth under the boys rose sharply and sent them flying in different directions.

...--...

Toph sat on the bench next to Aang. Their team was up to kick first.

"This is so stupid! I hate this class!" Toph angrily wrapped her arms around her knees. Aang looked at her. As tough as she tried to act, he could tell she was giving it her all to hold in her tears.

"Toph it's ok. It's just a stupid game. It doesn't mean anything."

"Easy for you to say! You weren't last pick! You didn't have the team captains fighting over who had to get stuck with you on their team!" One kid went up to the plate to kick first. The pitcher rolled the ball on the ground. Aang watched as his team mate kicked the ball. He didn't hit it right and it flew out of bounds. The pitcher rolled another ball to the kicker. Aang looked harder. The ball never left the ground except for the occasional bounce.

"Toph, I think you can do this!" Aang got excited watching the game.

"What are you talking about, I can't see the ball."

"Yes you can. Put your feet on the ground quick! They're about to pitch to another kicker." Toph unlinked her arms and put her feet on the ground. The pitcher rolled the ball sending vibrations all the way to Toph.

"I can see the ball…" Toph said, stunned.

"Yeah! They roll the ball to you! The only time the ball's in the air is when you kick it or when they felid players throw it to each other. You don't have to touch the ball at all except when you kick it." Toph smiled, a new hope bubbled in her. It then died down.

"But wait. I won't be able to tell whether to run or not. Plus, what if they throw the ball at me? I won't be able to see it in the air and with all the noise I can't hear it…I'll just get hit."

"I'll help you. Don't worry about it."

"We need a kicker!" A boy got up to go.

"Wait! Toph should go!" Aang said jumping up to stop him.

"The blind kid? No way! I don't know if you're on the same page, but we're trying to win this game."

"And we will. Now let Toph go." Aang stared the kid down.

"Fine, but if we lose you're going down." Aang shook his head, middle schoolers gave out the worst threats.

"Go for it Toph. Just kick the ball as hard as you can."

"Don't worry…I will…" Toph marched out on the field. The other team watched and started to laugh.

"Aww this is too easy!"

"Everybody move in! It's the blind kid!" Toph gritted her teeth. _Just because I'm blind doesn't mean I'm weak…_

"Just roll the ball tough guy!" The pitcher chuckled and rolled the ball. The ball hit the ground and sent vibrations to Toph. Toph smiled as the ball came closer. Toph ran forward, swung her foot back, and…

KABOOM!! She hit it with all her might at the right time, in the right place. The ball went flying.

"Run Toph! GO!!" Aang yelled. Toph ran as fast as should could, laughing…towards 3rd base… "NO!! RUN THE OTHER WAY!! THE OTHER WAY!!" Aang yelled shaking the chain link fence.

"Oh, right…" Toph turned around and ran towards 1st. The ball was still flying through the air. All the kids just stopped and stared in awe, except for Aang who was still shouting out directions and Toph who was just laughing her head off.

...--...

It was lunch time; Sokka and Suki were sitting in their usual spot.

"Where's Zuko?" Katara sat sitting down with them handing a bag to an eager Sokka.

"We don't know. He didn't come back to class. Of course I guess he didn't have to. All we did was go in and get our lunches." Suki said taking her lunch out.

"He's probably still just blowing off some steam. What a baby. He should just act like a man and accept the fact that he signed up for a stupid class." Sokka said shoving his sandwich into his mouth.

"Yeah, kinda like how you cried asking for the sign up sheet?" Suki said nudging him.

"Those were tears of man." Sokka said correcting her.

"Well, he can transfer out after tomorrow if he wants to. I mean, the class is full so I doubt they'll cancel it anytime soon." Katara smiled, happy that she got her way.

"Poor Zuko. He always seems to get dragged into things he doesn't want to do." Suki said.

"Hey, that still doesn't give him the right to lose his temper. I bet if he wasn't so hot headed he would've known already that the class was full." Sokka said taking a gulp of water.

"So what class did you decide to take Sokka?" Katara asked hoping to change the subject so she wouldn't feel guilty about Zuko.

"It was a tough choice between creative writing and home ec…" Katara gave Suki a questioning look. Suki just shrugged. "But in the end I decided to go with Psychology."

"What happened to Chess?" Suki asked.

"Well, I was going to take it, but I realized that it was really just a class for dorks and losers. So instead I'm just going to play chess on my own free time." Suki rolled her eyes.

"Dorks and losers huh? I wonder where ya got that idea from…"

"Free time! I forgot about that." Suki and Sokka looked at Katara. "Is it too late to sign up for clubs? I meant to at the election fair but I forgot since I was so focused on making Zuko sign up for gardening."

"No, I still think you can. Have you thought about getting a job?" Suki said while slapping Sokka's hand away from her food. It had started to become a reflex.

"Yeah, but I don't know who's hiring. It would be great to have money for myself to buy things."

"Just look around today. I'm sure some place will give you a job." Sokka said rubbing his hand.

...--...

"You were great today Toph." Aang said sitting down at a table outside in the school's lunch courtyard.

"Yeah, I was pretty great, wasn't I?" She said eating a candy bar.

"See? You can play sports. You just gotta find the right ones."

"You mean one. I doubt there are many other sports I can play."

"I'm sure there are. We just haven't thought of them yet."

"I still hate the class though." Aang smiled. He was glad that Toph's day turned out better than how it had started.

"What are you doing after school today?"

"Weren't you going to do something with Katara?"

"I was, but I can give her a break." Toph smiled.

"Nothing. What did you have in mind?"

"Wanna go to the arcade?" Toph glared at him.

"I doubt they have video games for blind people…"

"What about the video games you play at home?"

"Those are mindless shoot 'em up games. Anyone can play them. I only play them for the story anyway…" Aang wondered how much of a story a shoot 'em up game could have. He then wondered if the real reason Toph played them was for the sick satisfaction of hearing monsters blow up and scream in agony once they got shot. Aang thought about what Toph would be interested in.

"Wanna just run around the city and cause mayhem?" Toph grinned.

"Twinkle toes, you know me all too well."

...--...

Mai calmly walked home. She calmly opened the gate to her house and calmly opened the front door, and closed it behind her. She looked out the window and saw no one. Sure that there was no one there, Mai freaked out.

"MAIL!! WHERE'S THE MAIL!! HAS IT COME YET?!" She ran around the house checking the usual places where the mail was placed.

"I'm sorry mistress, I haven't checked the mail box yet." One of her maids said, a bit scared at this rarely seen side of Mai. "Would you like me to go—" before she could finish, Mai raced to the front door and stopped herself before she opened it. She took a deep breath in and opened the door. The mail box was all the way down near the gate. She looked around to find the same deserted front yard and neighborhood. Mai walked towards the mail box with her dead pan face. While she was half way there she wondered why the hell anyone would have such a long walk from the house to the mail box. The mail box came into view and she smiled, almost at her goal, her heart racing with anticipation of finding a letter from Zuko. She opened the gate and turned to the box. She reached for the lid. Her heart beat faster. Finally Zuko—

"Getting your own mail?" An icy voice stabbed into Mai's heart. She closed her eyes hoping she just imagined it. "Don't you have maids to do that for you?" Mai turned around to find Azula leaning against the gate.

"They forgot to get it and I was just getting it myself."

"Oh? Are you expecting something today?"

"No. Just bored." Azula smiled. She loved how Mai always tired to hide her true self from her. She wondered when Mai would learn that it just wasn't possible to do.

"Interesting way to pass the time."

"So what are you doing? Passing the time as well?"

"Can't I come see my best friend?"

"Of course you can, but Ty Lee doesn't live here." Azula laughed. Mai smiled, she knew Azula as well as Azula knew her.

"I was just in the neighborhood and thought I'd drop by to see what you were up to." Mai grinned, but she knew there was something else. Azula got this hint and sighed. "Ok, you got me. I came by because I was bored and was hoping you'd be doing something more exciting than I was." She crossed her arms, a bit unhappy to admit that she had absolutely nothing to do. "So, do you want to go to the mall?"

"Sure, anything to get out of here. I'll go change."

"Alright, I'll be over at my house." Mai turned to walk back. "Oh Mai." Mai stopped and turned around. "Aren't you forgetting your mail?" Mai froze.

"The maids can get it." Mai continued towards her house. Azula frowned. _So she still wasn't at her breaking point. No matter. She'll get there._

...--...

"Ok, I've signed up for the cooking club and Model UN." Katara said writing down when they meet in her planner.

"Why not try out for a sports team?" Suki asked. She was eyeing the volleyball table.

"Well, I don't know if I'd be any good. I don't really play sports anyway."

"You could always try."

"I'll think about it."

"Hey can we leave yet? School's been out for a half an hour and I'd like to leave it." Sokka said returning from wandering around and looking at the club booths.

"Relax Sokka. Take another look around. I'm sure there's something here for you." Katara said poking him in the chest.

"I'm already on the soccer team and I signed up for the fencing club. I don't see why you want me to sign up for anything else."

"I'm just thinking about your future. Colleges look at extracurricular activities."

"Thank you for thinking about my future Katara. You're so kind."

"Well someone has to!"

"Ok guys. I'm ready to go." Suki got back from the volleyball table. "Are you guys fighting again?"

"We were but we're done." Sokka said ignoring the angry Katara. "Now let's go."

"Are you going to go do something with Aang?" Suki asked.

"Yeah, but I still have time to burn so I was going to go walk around the city for a bit. Where are you guys going?"

"We're gunna go to Suki's house and do our homework. Can you tell dad that I'll probably be eating dinner at Suki's?"

"Yeah. Have fun."

"You too. Bye Katara!" Suki said waving goodbye.

"See ya." Sokka said putting his arm around her. Katara waved to them and walked on.

...--...

_Where is Zuko?_ Uncle thought. _He should've gotten out of school a while ago._ Zuko was supposed to help Uncle hire a new person to help around the shop. There were already a lot of people waiting in the dining room to be interviewed_. I guess I'll just go ahead and start._ Uncle opened the door to his office and smiled at all the eligible candidates. He looked at the sign in sheet and read the first name.

"Lorelei Woods?" He looked around the room. A young girl got up.

"Right here!" _She looks nice._ Uncle smiled.

"Well come on in and we'll get started." As soon as they entered the room and got seated he went right to business.

"So, what are your interests?"

"I like fashion, photography, and cooking."

"Cooking? Really…" Uncle was pleased.

"Oh yes. On weekends I normally bake cookies for the children at the homeless center. I also love to bake cakes and different pastries. Sometimes I'll have a bake sale, and all my proceeds will go to different charities."

"Very good. I'm impressed and quite pleased." Lorelei smiled.

"Why thank you."

"Now tell me. Why did you leave your last job?"

"Well you see, there was a problem customer…" A waitress opened the door slightly and looked in. Uncle smiled and nodded for her to come in. "…and we kinda disagreed on a few issues…" She came into the room to bring uncle his tea. As she bent to pour the tea, her hand slipped and the tea pot fell, spilling tea onto Lorelei. "…so I—HOLY &# THAT IS &ING HOT!!" The waitress whipped out a towel and frantically tried to clean away the tea.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to—"

"YOU #ING #!! THIS SHIRT COST ME 25 #ING DOLLARS!! SERIOUSLY?! WHAT THE IS WRONG WITH YOU!!" Lorelei snatched the towel and flung it at the waitress. The poor waitress screamed and ran out of the room crying. Uncle just sat there, stunned by what he just witnessed. Lorelei sat down, looked at him, and laughed.

"No wonder you have a help wanted sign. Your staff is a bunch of #ing idiots." Uncle laughed nervously.

"Well thank you so much." He got up and shooed her out the door. "I've heard enough and I'll be in touch."

"Thank you so much! I can't wait to start!" Uncle continued to walk the girl all the way to the door of his tea shop and pushed her out smiling.

"Yeah well…WE can, heh heh…good bye now!" Uncle closed the door and put his hand on his forehead. _That girl is bad karma. _He looked at the sign up sheet and called out the next name. "Sam Feday?" A new girl stood up wearing a pretty floral print dress, very heavy makeup, and smiled sweetly. Uncle approached her. _Well at least it can't get worse than that girl._ "Nice to meet you. Let's go into my office and we can get started." He smiled at her and shook her hand.

"Alright. Lead the way." She laughed. Uncle froze. For a young girl, she sure had a strong grip, and quite a deep voice…

...--...

Katara made her way down the street window shopping. She eventually came to a cute shoe store. As she looked at the shoes displayed in the window a sign caught her eye: 'Help Wanted'

Katara smiled and went in. An old woman greeted her.

"Hi, I saw your sign outside and I want to apply."

"Oh good. Please go to the back. The manager will be happy to see you." Katara made her way past a gorgeous selection of shoes. _This is the perfect place for me!_ She smiled inside. She came to a curtain and pulled it back.

"Hello?"

"Yes?" An even older woman sat behind a desk in the back of the room. She wore thick glasses and had long finger nails. "Well don't just linger in the doorway. It's quite rude."

"Sorry. I asked about the job opening and the lady—"

"Sit!" The woman pointed to a chair in front of the desk and took out a clip board with paper and a pen. Katara hurried to sit down. "Name?"

"Katara." The woman began to write furiously. She paused.

"Now tell me why you want this job." She went back to the clip board, ready to write.

"Well you see…I don't like shoes." The woman looked up at Katara. "…I LOVE shoes!" Katara smiled thinking she was quite the wit. The woman looked back down at her clip board and started writing.

"Tells…poor…jokes…" Katara heard her murmur.

"Wait! What are you writing?"

...--...

_8__th__ time's the charm right?_ Uncle thought as he called out a new name.

"Lee Van?" A guy dressed in black with spikes got up.

"My friends call me shadow." Uncle smiled nervously looking him up and down.

"Right…" This was going to be a long day…

...--...

As soon as the bell rang Toph and Aang ran out to find an unsuspecting victim to prank.

"Where should we look first?" Aang asked. Toph was an expert at this.

"There's lots of suckers near the train station. Let's start there and make our way to the park." They started to run off towards the train station when Aang's phone rang.

"Hey Katara! I was going to call you."

"Sorry that I'm running late."

"Oh, actually, is it possible to cancel today?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, I thought I'd give you a break since you're probably busy, and I thought I'd hang out with Toph today."

"Alright, well that works for me. I'm out looking for a job."

"A job?"

"Yeah. But I'll let you get back to Toph. Have fun!"

Katara hung up, leaving Aang to look at his phone. A job meant yet another obstacle to keep him and Katara apart.

"Aang you ok?"

"Yeah…Katara's fine with everything."

"You didn't tell her what we were up to did you?" Toph knew Katara wasn't too fond of pranks.

"No." Aang snapped out of it. "Now let's go!"

...--...

Katara found herself sitting once again behind a desk, only it was a man behind the desk and it was for a position at the book store.

"So are you free in the mornings?"

"Well actually, I have school so…"

"School? Why bother? You can learn anything you need from books." The man smiled. Was he being serious?

"That may be true but I would really like to continue my education…"

"Ah, Katara…" The man shook his head. "I too once went to school. I graduated, went to college. And look where I am today. You see, you can be where I am _without_ going to school." This guy was nuts.

"Well. Thank you for your time. I'll give you a call when I drop out." Katara smiled and quickly got up to leave.

"Alright. Can't wait to hear from you!"

...--...

Uncle and the man across from him were laughing. The interview was going quite well. "Well I am willing to give you a shot at the job, but your past quite troubles me. You _did_ say you were convicted of a felony…" The man laughed.

"It was a misdemeanor, and you can trust that I won't steal from your shop."

"How so?" Uncle said reaching for his tea.

"Because the truth is…I can't stand tea." Uncle almost choked.

"Excuse me?"

"It's true. I hate it, which is why you can be sure I won't take anything from you." The man smiled. Uncle scowled.

"Get out…"

...--...

Toph reached into her pocket and pulled out a coin.

"It's the oldest trick in the book, but it's also the most amusing." Toph put it on the ground out in the open for people getting off the trains to see. She and Aang went to sit on a bench a safe distance away, but still close enough to enjoy the show. Their first victim was a business man no doubt on his way back from work. He spotted the coin and bent down.

"Now." Aang whispered. Toph nodded her head causing the earth to quickly move the coin discreetly to the left. The man gave the coin a questioning look.

"Huh?" He reached again only to have it move at the last minute. He reached again in vain, and again, and again, and again…Toph and Aang giggled. Finally the man grunted and gave up continuing on his way home. The next contestant was an unusual boy dressed in baggy clothes and had head phones on. He spotted the coin and tried to get it.

"My turn!" Aang said as he moved it. The boy looked confused and tried again. It moved again. The boy kept trying to get it, following the coin closer and closer to the stairs. The coin stopped right near the edge of the stairs. The boy moved towards the coin. The coin just stayed still. The boy moved closer and then backed away. The coin sat undisturbed. The boy leaned forward and then back, forward, forward more, and then back. The coin still remained in the same spot and stared back at the odd boy. The boy chuckled, moved back, and then lunged for it. The coin moved away from the stairs and in between his legs, leaving him to fly down the stairs. Aang and Toph burst out laughing.

"Good one twinkle toes!!"

...--...

Katara smiled greeted by another manager. This ice cream shop looked promising.  
"Hi nice to meet you." The manager smiled.

"Hie, ow yowa aru jewdey?" Katara blinked.

"Ummm, sorry?"

"Ow yowa aru jewdey?"

"I—I'm sorry I didn't get that last part…"

"Gut wong yit ya. I jasked ow yowa fuging!"

"I…uhhh…yes?" She shrugged smiling, a bit uncertain. The manager just glared at her. "Heh, heh…"

...--...

Uncle was getting a headache. He was thankful that there were only a few more names on the list. He looked at the next name.

"Tur—" Uncle stopped. He looked at the name again hoping he read it wrong. Uncle sighed and crossed the name off shaking his head. Iroh considered himself to be a very reasonable man. He knew this person could well be the best person for the job, the most responsible, and even the most charming individual he would ever meet. True he was very reasonable, but he refused to even consider hiring someone named Turtluff Marmaduke…

...--...

Toph and Aang were making their way from the train station to the park, pranking unsuspecting pedestrians on the way. As they were running down the sidewalk they ran past a public pool. Toph stopped Aang and pointed to some people sun bathing on towels.

"Watch." Toph said as one person got up. Toph moved her arm and smiled. Aang smiled and looked around. Nothing happened. He looked harder, paying close attention to detail. Still nothing.

"Toph, nothing's happening…" Aang was starting to think this prank was lame. She didn't even do anything; at least he couldn't see that she did anything.

"Just wait." Toph was still grinning. Aang rolled his eyes and went back to watching the sun bathers. The woman who had gotten up came back and went to sit back down on her towel.

"Ahhh!!" As soon as she sat down on her towel she fell straight into a newly dug hole hidden under it. Aang gasped, quite impressed.

"Toph that was amazing!!" She grinned back at him.

"I know."

...--...

_After this, I'm going home._ Katara said to herself as she walked into a small bakery. The only person there was an old man behind the counter. As soon as he saw her he lit up.

"Ahhh, well hello my sweet heart. What brings such a pretty young girl into my shop today, eh?" She smiled. He sure was flattering.

"I was wondering if you had a job position open."

"Oh, so you need a job ya?" He looked her over. "Well let's see if we can get you a job. Come here, come here." Katara hesitated before following him into the back. "So you in high school?"

"Yes." Katara said hanging out in the door way as the old man continued walking further into the room.

"No boyfriends I hope?"

"Oh, umm I have one." She smiled. Something didn't seem right.

"Oh ok, you have a boyfriend. But a pretty girl like you must be still seeing others on the side right?" The old man turned and gave her a wink.

"…ummm…" The old man continued to a shelf and pulled out a folder.

"Now let's see if we have a spot open for you beautiful, ya?" He looked up smiling to find himself alone.

Katara ran out of the shop.

"I will never eat bread again…" she said as she made her way home.

...--...

Finally, this was the last person on the list.

"Pat?" A middle aged…person…got up smiling. They were wearing a baggy shirt, jeans, tennis shoes, thick glasses, and had short curly hair. Uncle looked at…Pat…a tad puzzled. "So…you seem like a nice…" Uncle tried to find the right word. "…person." He smiled at Pat. Pat smiled back.

"Oh yes, I'm told that quite a lot." Uncle listened hard for some clue to gender in Pat's voice…none.

"Yeah, I bet..." Uncle turned to go into his office with Pat following. "So, what are you interests?"

"Well I like to read, go running. I'm a huge fan of karaoke…"

"Oh karaoke! What songs do you like to sing?"

"Well I love singing rock and roll, like the Aerosmith. But I also like pop music. I know it may seem unusual but I sometimes like to sing Christina Aguilera." Uncle perked up a bit.

"Oh? Why is that unusual?"

"Well, she sings about very odd things that some find inappropriate, but the songs do have a great beat." Uncle slapped his head. A waitress poked her head in.

"Can I get you some tea?"

"No thanks I'm fine." Pat said.

"I could use some tea." Uncle's eyes fell on Pat sitting across from him, smiling his…her…_their_…androgynous smile. "…strong tea…"

...--...

Toph and Aang finally made it to the park. They were sitting on a bench under a tree laughing their heads off from a day of pranks.

"Wow, today was great! I can't remember the last time I had so much fun."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I feel like…well, a kid." Toph punched him on his arm.

"You _are_ a kid."

"Yeah, but sometimes I feel like I've been holding back. I really don't do this kind of thing anymore."

"Well what do you and Katara normally do?"

"I don't know. Just walk and talk I guess. Sometimes she'll watch me do cool tricks with my airbending, and sometimes we'll get ice cream."

"Wow, no wonder you don't feel like a kid." Toph laughed. Aang gave her a defensive look, but started to laugh as well.

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"About the tunnel, I think we should tell the others about it. That way they can help find a place for it since it doesn't seem like we'll get around to going there."

"Yeah but won't we still have to go there anyway so we know exactly where we're going?"

"Yeah, but if we already know the spot, it'll be easier and not as time consuming as going there and running around trying to find a spot. Since time seems to be a big issue lately..." Aang snapped back to reality.

"Time! What time is it?" Aang pulled out his phone. "It's almost 6:40…"

"Wow really?" Toph picked at her ear. "I guess time does fly when you're having fun."

"I gotta get to the temple. No doubt I'll have hours of work to do. Plus I haven't been spending any time with Momo or Appa."

"Alright. I should probably get going too. It's almost dinner time." Aang looked at Toph. Sokka was right; she did look kinda cute in the Shi Middle boy uniform.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

"Later twinkle toes."

...--...

Uncle rested his head on the bar. He interviewed over 20 people today, and none of them were anything special…let alone normal. He looked at the clock, it was almost 7. Zuko was still no where to be found and he was supposed to help Iroh today. Once, Zuko had asked his uncle to shoot lighting at him so he could practice redirecting it. _As soon as I find that boy I'll be shooting so much lighting at him that he'll cry every time someone turns on a light._ The front door opened bringing Uncle back to his tea shop.

"Hello? I'm here about the help wanted sign outside." Uncle turned around to see the source of the voice. "I was hoping I could still try for the job." He let out a good hearty laugh.

"Try for it? You can have it!"

...--...

As soon as Mai got home she stomped to her bedroom with her shopping bag. She didn't buy anything for herself, but she found a cute hair clip and bracelet that Ty Lee might like. She then remembered something important. Mai dashed out and screamed at the nearest maid.

"Where's the mail?!" The maid jumped from being startled.

"Down stairs on the coffee table in the living—" Mai was already down clawing through the letters: Junk mail, junk mail, magazine, bills, bills, bills, junk mail, local-technical-college-begging-Mai-to-attend letter, bills…nothing from Zuko. Angry, Mai dropped the letters and stormed back to her room. She had sent him a letter almost every 2 days now and still no reply? What a jerk.

...--...

As soon as Azula entered her house she was greeted my two maids.

"Take these to my room." She said dropping her bags on the floor in front of them. She walked away into one of the studies on the lower floor and closed the door. She walked over to the desk, sat down, and opened the drawer to pull out a letter. "So Zuzu…" She said taking out her letter opener. "What teary message do you have for Mai tonight?"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**Fa Xian ****High: the School of Discoveries**

"Good night Toph, night Suki. Thanks for dinner!" Sokka said as he made his way out their front door.

"See ya later Sokka!" Toph called from the living room. "Come back whenever you want your butt kicked again!" After dinner Sokka and Toph played video games. Sokka still couldn't believe he lost a video game to a blind girl.

"I told you, my controller was broken!" Suki chuckled as she walked behind Sokka ready to close the door after him.

"The sooner you accept the fact that I'm better than you, the less painful it is!" Toph yelled smiling.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Suki said giving Sokka a goodnight kiss.

"Take care." Sokka walked outside and looked up at the night sky. He smiled and continued his way home.

…--…

Zuko woke up in his room just like all the days before. He was still tired from coming home late, but he knew he had to get up for school. He got dressed and packed his bag and went to the bathroom just like all the days before. There he washed his face, brushed his teeth, and brushed through his hair with his fingers. He expected to walk into the kitchen to see his Uncle happily making morning tea and breakfast for the two of them, just like all the days before. What he didn't expect was that this morning would not be like all the days before. He walked in to find Uncle sitting at the table with only a cup of tea.

"Sit down Zuko." His voice was hard.

"I don't have time. I'll be late for school…" Zuko grabbed a roll off the kitchen counter and turned to walk out the kitchen. He would've made it out if it hadn't been for a fireball that sailed past his head, hitting the door frame of the entrance to the kitchen leaving behind a burnt hole.

"I insist." Zuko was stunned. Uncle never shot fire at Zuko, not even during training. He put his bag down and sat down in the chair opposite of Uncle.

"What."

"You tell me. You were supposed to help me hire someone at the tea shop yesterday, remember?"

"Something came up—"

"And even after that you leave me to close the shop by myself—"

"Uncle I—"

"—And sit here to worry all night long." Zuko bowed his head and gritted his teeth. He didn't come back till 2am last night. "Where were you?"

"I was out…"

"Out where."

"In the city—"

"Doing what?"

"Just walking around—"

"—Why?"

"I was frustrated!" Zuko looked up at his Uncle and saw his expression had not changed. He still looked crossed and stiff. "I tried being nice to Katara and she makes me take this stupid class with her as like, a punishment and…" Zuko caught sight of the clock. "Uncle I have to go, I'm going to be late."

"I'll write you a note saying you went to the doctor's." Zuko sighed; there was no way he was getting out of this.

"Katara made me sign up to take a class with her, and it's being taught by Jun." Uncle's eyes widened.

"Jun? As in the bounty hunter Jun?"

"Yeah. Her." Uncle thought it would be a good idea, for Zuko's sake of course, to schedule a parent-teacher conference soon.

"Oh ok." His expression hardened again "Go on."

"Well yeah, so now I'm stuck taking a stupid gardening class with the last two women I'd ever want to be left alone in a room with. And Katara's stupid brother wouldn't sign up so I could get out and he's taking all these great classes that I want to take. And his girlfriend's there like, 24/7 just to rub it in my face that my girlfriend is cranky all the time and lives 500 miles away and never writes to me and is easily jealous and just overall is a big blah!" Uncle shook his head.

"Zuko, I know those things must aggravate you, but do you really expect me to believe you stayed out all night because of girl troubles?" Zuko bowed his head. Finally the truth was coming.

"I went out to try to find my mom." Zuko really didn't want his Uncle to know the truth behind him moving away from home. He wanted his Uncle to believe it was because he missed him and wanted a simpler life. Sure those things were true, but the real reason was finally out there.

"Do you truly believe your mother is here?"

"Yes, I do."

"Where did you get that idea?"

"Azula told me." Uncle sighed. His nephew was still the brash young man he knew long before the summer. What was worse was he was still letting Azula control him.

"Zuko, I understand your determination to find your mother, but I wish you would think things through."

"I have thought it through Uncle. I'm here aren't I?"

"Yes you are, but now what? What will you do the rest of your life? Wander the streets vainly looking without a plan for a woman who has a slim chance of even being here?"

"It's not a slim chance! I know she's here, Azula—"

"Azula is a liar. How do you know she was telling the truth?"

"I really don't think she has a plan to—"

"She always has a plan!" Uncle was furious that Zuko seemed to learn nothing from his experiences. "What will it take to get you to learn that?" Zuko opened his mouth, but nothing came out. "You need to stay one step ahead of her. But since that's obviously beyond your reach at the moment, you should at least try to stay on the same page."

"But how—"

"Think about your weakness. That's how she controls people. You care most about your mother and she knows that."

"But why would Azula want me gone? Out of all the places she could have said, why here?"

"I don't know, but you should think about that. Don't leave your issues for someone else to solve." Zuko was furious with himself. He couldn't believe how stupid he was.

"So what do I do about gardening?"

"Give it a shot. Gardening builds character and patience. I'm sure you will learn to appreciate it." Zuko got up to go.

"Thank you Uncle. And I'm sorry about staying out and not helping you. It was very selfish of me, and I'm very sorry."

"No I don't think you are." Zuko looked shocked at his Uncle. "When school is over I want you to come straight to the shop. I'll have a list of things for you to do so you will know how sorry you are." Zuko dropped his head defeated. This week was going to be hell. He picked up his bag to go. Uncle was busy writing a fake doctor's note for him. "Don't forget this." He said giving the note to him. Zuko grabbed the note and was almost out the door, "And Zuko. For the time being I must ask that you hold off on finding your mother and focus on your own life." Zuko nodded. "Also, please find a better outlet for your frustrations, and try to keep an open mind, and an open heart."

…--…

Ty Lee was warming up with stretches in gym class. Although most kids would hate to start the day with gym, Ty Lee loved it. It was a great way to wake her body up and be ready for the day. Even before school had started Ty Lee had made her self busy. She had enrolled in several dance classes and begged her mom to let her take additional classes at the local gymnasium. She also had gotten into drama and was excited about auditions for the school play next month. Ty Lee loved being the center of attention. She loved shinning above the rest and she secretly enjoyed competition. Her dreams and ambitions were as countless as the stars as well. She could do anything. She could be a gold metal gymnast at the Olympics, the prima ballerina of the most prestigious dance troupe, an award winning actress, or even the main spectacle in a world traveling circus. Her future could never be brighter.

"Looking good Lee!" One of her classmates said passing by. Ty Lee smiled.

"You too!" Although Ty Lee was only a freshman, she was already quite popular at school.

There was nothing that could stop her, except maybe Azula. Although they had been close friends since childhood, Ty Lee couldn't help but be just a little scared of Azula. Azula could break a person in an instant if they even looked at her wrong, and Ty Lee knew that, which is why she made it her priority to not get on Azula's bad side and go out of her way to make Azula feel like she worshiped her.

…--…

The class was well into the lesson when the door opened. The class all turned to find Zuko standing in the doorway.

"Well, Zuko. Glad that you decided to join us today." Zuko walked to the front and handed Uncle's note to the teacher.

"Sorry, I had an early morning Doctor's appointment." He walked back to his desk and took his notebook out.

"Well you made it just in time for our group activity. Class, please divide yourself into groups and I'll walk around and give you each the worksheet." _Great, busy work to start the day_. Zuko thought. As the class began to get into groups Zuko saw the group of girls huddled together, no doubt trying to see which one had the guts to ask Zuko to join them. Before he let them figure it out, Zuko ran to the other side of the room, jumping over desks and shoving kids out of the way to do so. As soon as he got to the other side, he causally strolled up to Sokka and Suki.

"Hey, can I be in your group?"

…--…

Toph and Aang were once again bunched up in gym. They were getting picked for new kickball teams and the teacher picked out new team captains.

"I want Toph." Toph smiled wide.

"First pick? Alright! I actually was picked first for a sport team!"

"See? This isn't such a bad class." Aang was happy that Toph was giving gym a second chance.

"Wait, that team picked first last time! That's not fair, I should be able to pick first!"

"That doesn't matter since its completely different teams!" Once again, a fight broke out over whose team Toph would be on; however it was a fight that Toph enjoyed.

"Let's just let Toph decide!"

"Toph, whose team do you want to be on? Mine or his?"

"Hey, don't bring me into this fight. I'm just gunna sit this out and let you boys handle it." Toph leaned against the bleachers and watched the fight start back up again. This is how gym became Toph's new favorite class.

…--…

The bell rang for lunch and Katara made her usual way to Sokka and Suki.

"Is Zuko still MIA?" Katara asked.

"No, he's here." Sokka said lying back in the grass.

"I thought you were going to ask him to sit with us."

"We did. He just said that he had stuff to do." Suki said starting to eat her meal.

"Huh, I wonder what it is." Katara said taking a sip of her water.

…--…

Zuko sat at his normal spot, roof top of building 3. He was touched that Sokka and Suki invited him to sit with them for lunch, but he preferred the roof. Sure it would be nice to have someone to talk to, but he really didn't want to be eating with a group of girls watching his every move giggling.

…--…

Mai sat on the fountain again. This time she had brought a lunch and something else with her, wrapped in a little pink bag with a pink bow.

"Do you have a lunch today?" Ty Lee said as she plopped down next to Mai. Mai raised a little plastic zip lock bag with a sandwich inside. Ty Lee smiled. "I'm so proud of you!" She took out her own lunch.

"I also have something else." She raised the pink bag up. "This is for you." Ty Lee looked shocked.

"For me? But it's not my birthday." Ty Lee took the bag.

"I know. I went shopping yesterday with Azula and didn't see anything I liked." A huge smiled spread across Ty Lee's face.

"Wow, thank you!" She untied the pink bow and reached inside the bag. She pulled out two tissue paper-wrapped clumps. The first one was a bracelet. One strand was a silver charm bracelet, another was pink rhinestones set in little silver squares, and the third was a strand of pink pearls. The three strands of the bracelet were held together by a little pink ribbon tied in a bow. The second clump was a little set of cute fuzzy animal hair clips. "Awww Mai!" Ty Lee hugged her. "You know me so well!" Ty Lee put the bracelet on and stuffed the tissue paper back into the bag.

"It's nothing." Mai smiled. She looked around. "Ty Lee, I want to talk to you about something, but I really don't want Azula to know." Mai looked around again and Ty Lee did the same. Mai didn't see Azula anywhere, but she knew it probably wasn't a good idea to talk about it here. Knowing Azula she would just pop up at the wrong time. "Can you get online tonight?"

"Maybe. Cheerleader try outs are today."

"Well try anyway." Ty Lee nodded and noticed Azula walking their way.

"Do you think I have a good shot at getting a spot on varsity?" Mai gave her a questioning look then realized Azula must be coming.

"Of course you do. You're probably the most spirited girl here. You're definitely the loudest." Mai and Ty Lee laughed.

"A good shot at what?" Azula said standing in front of Mai and Ty Lee.

"The varsity cheerleading team. The try outs are today." Azula noticed Ty Lee's bracelet.

"That's a very pretty bracelet. Where'd you get it?"

"Mai gave it to me. She also gave me these." Ty Lee showed the hair clips.

"Well that was sweet of you Mai." Azula said, "Did you forget her birthday?"

"No. I just saw those yesterday and thought she'd like them."

"I see…" Azula looked at Mai. Ty Lee noticed this and quickly pulled out one of the hair clips.

"Here Azula. You can have this one!" Ty Lee held out a little lion clip. "The lion reminds me of you." She smiled.

"That's very thoughtful of you Ty Lee, but I'm afraid fuzzy animals aren't really my thing." _Phew! That one was my favorite._ Ty Lee thought. "So, tryouts are today huh? Mind if I come out and cheer?" Ty Lee froze.

"Oh…well of course you can Azula. I wouldn't want anything else!" Azula grinned.

"Mai, are you going too?"

"I'd rather get my teeth cleaned than watch cheerleader tryouts." Ty Lee shot her an angry glance but soon went back to her happy self clipping the lion pin in her hair.

"Actually, that lion pin looks really cute. Mind if I have it?" Azula said sitting down next to Ty Lee. Ty Lee smiled and removed the clip.

"Of course you can Azula."

…--…

Katara walked briskly to her next class, gardening. She was a little late because she had gotten lost, but no matter, she was just excited to see how it would be. She opened the door and stopped from shock. Zuko was sitting in the middle of the room. The eight other girls (four of which were in Zuko's class) who had signed up to take the class were occupying the seats in front of Zuko, behind Zuko, on either side of Zuko, and the remaining corners. The tenth desk the school provided for the class was sitting far away from the clump on the right near the door. The teacher's desk at the front was empty. Jun wasn't here yet.

"Ummm…" Katara said, looking at the irritated Zuko (eyes closed, head down, arms crossed, right eyebrow twitching) and feeling a pang of guilt. "I guess this is my seat…" she said inching over to the lonely desk. She sat down and rested her hands on the desk and twiddled her thumbs. The only sound in the room was the murmur of the girls talking amongst themselves. Katara looked at the clock…Jun was late for her own class. She looked up at the ceiling and rolled her eyes around. She caught sight of Zuko who had his eyes squinted at her. She starred at him as he shook his head slightly and went back to his position. Katara blinked and looked back at her thumbs.

"Sorry I'm late." Jun said barging in and slamming the door. "Traffic was rough." She took her jacket off and flung it on a counter while walking to her desk and sitting down in the chair. She set her motorcycle helmet down and put her feet on the desk. "Is everyone here?" No response. "Good. My name is Jun and I'll be your teacher for gardening. If you wish to learn it there are textbooks in the back along with the key to the supply closet. Any questions?"

"Can we change seats?" Zuko asked.

"Sit wherever you like." Zuko got up, grabbed his chair, and held it over his head as he squeezed past the girls. He then dragged the chair to the back and took the keys to the closet and unlocked it. He opened the closet door and dragged his chair inside. Once inside he turned the light on and closed the door. The class went silent. Jun smiled.

"That's funny, my mood just picked up."

…--…

"Ok class, welcome to Modern Dance." Suki and Sokka were sitting on the ground of the dance studio along with their classmates. It was a relatively large group for a dance class. There were about 15 of them. The teacher stood in front of them, one foot in front of the other, a dead giveaway that she was a dancer. "Now Modern dance is not only about having fun, but about expression and being able to release your inhibitions…" Sokka burped. The teacher looked sharply at him.

"What? I was releasing my inhibitions." A hushed giggle spread throughout the class. _Great, a class clown that no doubt only took the class so he could be surrounded by girls…_ the teacher thought rolling her eyes. _Just what I need to put a damper on my art…_ She was used to guys signing up for her dance classes who couldn't dance and only gave her head aches trying to teach them simple steps just for the sole purpose of meeting girls.

"I am curious to see how your dance skills are like so I know what I have to work with and what you can work on." She said this more towards Sokka than any other person there. "So we will stretch and then I'll play music. When you hear the music I want you to move with it as you see fits."

…--…

Mai was waiting in the girl's bathroom in the lower 300 hall. Ty Lee had slipped her a note before lunch ended that said to meet her there at the beginning of 5th period. The door opened. Mai turned expecting Ty Lee, but instead it was another girl who smiled and walked into one of the stalls. As soon as Mai turned back around Ty Lee burst through the door looking for Mai.

"Why aren't you coming to my tryouts?" Ty Lee looked angry, a rare sight for Mai.

"Because I'm not interested."

"You KNOW Azula's going to do something to mess it up! You should make it your interest to help your friend by being there to prevent anything from going wrong."

"Ty Lee, I know Azula's up to something. She knows how much I can't stand that sort of thing and it would be out of character for me to go."

"So it's in character of you to not care about the well beings of your friends?"

"Of course I care about you. You know I want the best for you. But if I went, Azula would know that something's up between us."

"So let me take the fall while you get away free huh?" The girl got out of the stall and walked over to wash her hands trying hard to be invisible. "She already took my lion clip…"

"You need to stop being selfish—"

"Oh I'm being selfish?!" Ty Lee was so upset she picked up a soap dispenser and flung it at the back wall, almost missing the other girl's head. "This isn't fair!"

"I'm just gunna go…" the girl said sliding past the two of them and running out the door without even rinsing the soap off her hands.

"Control yourself Ty Lee!" Mai said grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her gently. "It's ok. No matter what Azula does today there's no way it can affect your performance. I know you, and I know how talented you are." Ty Lee was still upset and trying to hold back tears. "You'll do fine—" Ty Lee brushed Mai off and ran out the door just as a janitor was coming in to clean. She looked back at Ty Lee running down the hall before entering the bathroom. She looked at Mai, and then at back wall. There was soap splattered over the wall and glass on the ground.

"What happened in here!?"

"I don't know," Mai said walking past her. "But you should probably clean it up."

…--…

They got done with the stretching routine and the teacher began to walk towards her stereo. Sokka was surprised he had survived the stretches.

"Wow, I had no idea how stiff you were. You should stretch more." Suki said doing an extra stretch for her legs.

"Hey, when I dance, it's not about the flexibility. It's about style." Suki smirked at him.

"Well, I'm looking forward to see it."

"Now remember class! Move _with_ the music. Hear it, and _feel_ it flow through your body. Let it _consume_ you…"

"Ten bucks says she's been hitting the cactus juice…" Sokka whispered to Suki.

"Sokka!" Suki said trying to control her laugh. The teacher pressed play and odd belly dance like music began to play with a woman bellowing in the background. Sokka crossed his arms rather smugly.

"Told ya…"

…--…

"Zuko?" Katara knocked on the closet door. "It's Katara, can I come in? I need to get a few things from the closet." Katara had tried to get past the ordeal and focus on teaching herself gardening from the textbook. The only problem was that she needed supplies that were in the same closet Zuko had locked himself in.

"Is it just you?" she heard a voice from inside say.

"Yes, it's just me." The lock clicked and the door opened just a crack. All the girls were shocked. They had tried the same excuse but Zuko didn't open the door. Why was this girl so special? Katara opened the door. Zuko was doing homework and organizing his notes. She got her supplies together as fast as she could. "Ok I'm heading out now." Zuko got up to lock the door behind her. Katara went over to the table in the back she was working on with her supplies.

"Why does Zuko like you so much?" One of the girls asked her. Some of the other girls began to move around Katara.

"Well for starters I don't force myself on him and make it obvious that I'm whispering about him when he's sitting 3 feet away."

"Oh come on, like you haven't gawked at a boy before?" another girl said sitting down on the table.

"I have, but not to this extreme. You guys are blowing it out of proportion. Why do you all like Zuko so much?"

"Yeah I wanna know that too," Jun said peaking up from her magazine. "He's a rude little bugger if you ask me. Half his face has been burned off too…" She mumbled the last part. Jun didn't respect Zuko, at all, but she wasn't cruel enough to make Zuko's scar the worst part of him.

"He's different from the other guys." The girl on the table said.

"How so?" Katara asked a bit intrigued.

"Well he doesn't go out of his way to show off. In fact he doesn't show off at all." One of the girls sitting down at a desk said.

"Yeah, plus he's really shy. I think shy modest guys are so cute." Her friend added sitting across from her.

"And he's the best dressed guy in the whole school." Everyone in the room, even Jun, agreed.

"He's really quiet and distant, which makes him seem really mysterious. Like, you wonder what he's thinking about and where he disappears to at lunch." A girl sitting on the counter by the window said. "Plus, he's really smart."

"Yeah, you should hear him in class. He's a pretty clever guy." Her friend said.

"And he transferred from a top private school so he must be rich!" All the girls turned to look at the youngest girl leaning against the table. "What? I see it as a perk!"

"But what about his…" Katara lowered her voice so Zuko couldn't hear her from the closet, "…well, you know…" The girls knew she was referring to his scar.

"What of it?" One of the older girls said. "It's really not that bad. Besides it only adds to make him look _dark and intriguing_…" (Just then somewhere in the world, two men clutched their hearts. "Did you feel that?" the one with glasses asked his friend as they recovered. "Yeah…my zutara senses are tingling…" :sorry, just had to add that XD: )

"Besides, the other half of his face is so beautiful that it makes up for it." A girl said smiling and sticking out her tongue as the girls, including Katara, laughed.

"And if you think he's a jerk now, think of how much worse he would be without his scar." Katara looked puzzled.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, judging by his good side if he didn't have that scar he would be way too good looking. Too much for his own good…"

"Yeah, and he would know that too."

"And a guy's ego seems to be a very dangerous thing to mess with. There are very few guys who won't let their drop dead gorgeous good looks go to their heads." Katara thought about Sokka…

"See, _we_ don't see it as a flaw." Katara looked at the girl sitting on the table. "It's just a simple characteristic, we all have one."

"Yeah, it's his signature look."

"Which is still sexy fine!" The girls began to laugh again. Katara felt ashamed. She had allowed herself to focus solely on the outer appearance rather than even consider overlooking it. She came into this class thinking all these girls were idiots to realize the only idiot was her…but even though they had good points, she knew Zuko better than any of them and could come up with thousands of bad things about him. And even then, that still didn't make it right for those girls to harass Zuko.

"Alright, I get it. Zuko's the "perfect" guy. That still doesn't make it right for you guys to bother him so much."

"We just want to be his friend and make him feel loved."

"And maybe get something in return…" one girl whispered to her friend. Katara heard this.

"Well I hate to break it to you, but he has a girlfriend. She just lives far away." To her surprise this didn't kill the Zuko fan club. In fact it actually helped spark the interest.

"That makes it all the more fun!"

"Yeah. Competition is a great motivator."

"And since his girlfriend's far away she can't fight off our advances."

"Unlike Suki. We tried to go for Sokka on the first day but she fought us off."

"That girl's a warrior."

"A warrior with a strong grip!" Katara laughed. Thank Yue for Suki. She didn't know how she could handle Sokka flaunting the fact that he had a fan club.

"So, can you please go talk to him?" One girl nudged Katara.

"Yeah, he trusts you, and we'd be honored if you could represent us."

"I really don't think…."

"Please??" She looked around the room. All the girls were pleading for her to just go in and talk to Zuko. Katara sighed. Peer pressure, works every time…

"Alright…" Katara wondered what she could say to make him even consider unlocking the door. What if he heard everything they said? What if he heard everything _she_ said? She started to come up with good excuses to tell him if he asked her why she let them, and even participated, in talking about him. She knocked on the door. "Zuko?" No response. Her heart froze. _He must've heard…_ She knocked harder. "Zuko!" Still nothing. Her heart started to race. "ZUKO!!" her heart started beating up to her throat. She pounded on the door. "ZUKO! I KNOW YOU'RE THERE!! ZU—" The door swung opened and she almost hit Zuko.

"Take it easy I was listening to music." He had his headphones hanging around his neck and Katara could hear the music blaring out of them. Katara hit her forehead feeling stupid, yet also relieved. "Need more potting soil?"

"Actually, can we talk for a second?" Zuko looked at her. He bowed his head and let her in.

"Fine…but only for a second." _Stubborn, zero patience, and unwilling to forgive…_ Katara thought as he locked the door behind her. _The first fatal marks against Mr. Perfect…_

…--…

Sokka looked around the room. The class was mainly girls but there were still five guys (including Sokka), and they were all skilled dancers (excluding Sokka). They all looked graceful dancing around the room to the music. Suki was the most beautiful to Sokka of course. She had a clear edge over anyone in his mind. She was moving very smoothly like water through the room. Suki also incorporated some fighting moves which gave her dance a dangerous feel.

"You! Why aren't you dancing!" The teacher was pointing at Sokka.

"Just admiring the view—"

"THIS IS A DANCE CLASS, SO DANCE!!" Sokka gulped and began to move with the music…horribly. He put his arms up half way and began to move them about in a circular motion while bobbing his head. Some of the dancers slowed down their movements to watch him, some stopped completely. He then started to rock his hips in a semi circle and reversed the motion. Everyone stopped. He continued his odd dance by spinning in a circle, jumping, and then landing on one foot while he wiggled the other one before doing a half turn and shaking his butt. The teacher stopped the music which revealed that Sokka was making sounds to go along with the song. Some singing and some sound effects. He continued to dance until he realized the music had stopped. He opened his eyes to see the whole class starring at him.

…--…

"Do you think Appa would like this picture I made of him out of noodles?" Aang and Toph had art once a week. This week was macaroni art.

"Won't he try to eat it?" Toph said eating her chocolate pudding.

"No," Aang said looking at his picture, "Momo might, but I don't think Appa will. He can respect culture." Aang thought about this. "You don't think Momo will be jealous that I made Appa a picture and not him, do you?" Toph pulled out her picture and passed it to Aang.

"You can give Momo mine then." Aang looked at it. It was just a big blob of noodles everywhere.

"Thanks Toph."

"I was gunna give it to Suki, but she'll understand." Aang looked at her picture again.

"Why don't you send it to your mom?"

"Cause I'd rather give it to Momo."

"Do you send her anything?"

"Nope."

"Not even a letter?!" Aang was shocked.

"The occasional phone call to let her know I'm still alive is sufficient I think." Toph's parents were very overprotective of her. Toph couldn't stand it so she convinced her parents to let her stay with Suki. That way she got to be free while staying close to her friends. "They haven't called have they?" Toph's parents had given her a cell phone, but Toph didn't really see the point since she didn't need it and she couldn't really use it so she had given it to Aang.

"No, not yet." Every time they called Aang would either answer if he was near Toph or he would wait till he saw Toph again to call them back. Aang looked at his food. "Still, a letter would be nice every now and then…don't you think?"

"I'll think about it." Toph continued eating her pudding. Toph secretly did miss her parents, but she didn't want to talk to them if they weren't going to listen to her.

…--…

"You want me to what?"

"Just come back outside and sit with the rest of the class. They're actually very nice girls once you get to know them."

"Look Katara, I understand you want to help and make everyone act like one big happy family, but those girls are crazy. You talked me into taking this stupid class for you which I am. But if I'm going to be taking this class I might as well enjoy it, which means I'm going to be calling this closet home every weekday from 12:20 to 1:25." Trying to persuade a stubborn hermit to come out might be harder than she thought.

"Zuko, you don't have to stay in here to enjoy the class. You can enjoy it out there too…"

…--…

The girls were pressed up against the door on the outside of the closet trying to hear what was going on. For a supplies closet, it sure had a thick door. Finally they could hear a muffled part of a very angry conversation.

"YOU HAVE TO COME OUT OF THE CLOSET!"

"NO!"

"YOU ARE GOING TO COME OUT WITH ME AND YOU ARE GOING TO LIKE IT!"

"YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!"

"ZUKO! WOULDN'T YOUR UNCLE WANT YOU TO HAVE AN OPEN MIND?! NOW GET OUT OF THE CLOSET!"

"What on earth are they talking about in there?" One of the girls said. Jun flipped a page in her magazine.

"I knew it…"

…--…

Zuko wanted to say something back to her, but she was right. He hated that. Uncle would probably be ashamed of him if he were here. Zuko wasn't learning anything new, and he wasn't dealing with his problems. Instead he was just running away and acting like a spoiled child.

"Alright. I'll give it a shot…" Katara smiled. Zuko unlocked the door and opened it. Three girls fell into the closet and the rest of them smiled and backed away. Zuko gave a sharp look back at Katara. She just crossed her arms and gave him a "go on" look. Zuko sighed and continue into the classroom and walked to the nearest desk and sat down. The girls had huge smiles on their faces and mouthed 'thank yous' to Katara. Katara just smiled and went back to her flower pot.

"So Zuko…" one girl said sitting a desk next to him, "What made you take gardening?"

"She did." Zuko said pointing at Katara. The girls couldn't believe it. How could a girl, not even interested in him, have so much power over him?

"Why do you trust Katara so much?"

"Because she's an honorable and kind person..."

"So why do you do what she wants?" Zuko glared at the girl, there was so much he wanted to blurt out, but instead he thought about his Uncle. Zuko took a deep breath in and out.

"She's my friend." He looked back at Katara, she was smiling at him. He smiled back. "And I value her opinion of me." The girls noticed the exchange of smiles. They were already jealous of the fact that Katara had so much influence on Zuko, but now this? This girl was going down…

"So you value her opinion of you?"

"Yeah." One of the older girls walked causally up next to a desk that was next to Zuko's and sat on top of it.

"Then you should know she has a lot to say about you."

"Yeah, she led a whole discussion about you while you were in the closet." Zuko and Katara froze. Katara started frantically making "cut it out" motions to the group. They just smiled at her. Zuko turned to see what they were looking at and caught Katara in the middle of a motion. As soon as she saw Zuko looking she stopped immediately and went back to her pot.

"What did she say?" Zuko said turning back to the girls.

"First, she doesn't understand how anyone could like you." Zuko's face flushed from anger. He knew he probably wasn't the most likeable person, but for her to say that…

"She didn't defend you either when Jun started bashing you. In fact it seemed like she was agreeing…" Zuko got up. He knew he wanted to leave, but he was so angry he didn't know where.

"What?! Zuko don't listen to them…" Zuko turned and glared at Katara.

"She also thinks you're hideous with that scar." Zuko starred at Katara and blinked. He was no longer angry, he was hurt. Zuko suddenly became aware of his scar and turned away from her. He always knew it was there, but over the years he had come to accept it and move on. Sure there was the occasional question about it from strangers, but he didn't think his friends had let it bother them. He closed his eyes and put his palm over his left eye. Katara looked horrified.

"Zuko I never said that! I didn't—" Zuko raised his right hand to silence her. "…I'm sorry…" There was silence in the room. The only sound was the flipping of magazine pages from Jun. One of the girls walked up to Zuko and hugged him.

"It's ok Zuko." Zuko was still in shock and just stood there. Another girl noticed this and she too went up to hug him.

"I think you're beautiful." Still no response from Zuko. The other girls made a mad dash to glomp him. The weight of all the girls rushing in to hug Zuko brought him back. The group hug was starting to collapse on him.  
"Ahhh!! What are you doing?! Get off!!" Zuko struggled to get out of the group deflecting their hugs with his arms. It was the straw that broke the camel's back. "That's it! I'm transferring out of this stupid class!!" He stomped angrily over to the door and flung it open.

"Calm down." Jun said still reading her magazine. Zuko stopped and looked at her. "She's probably not the only one who thinks you're ugly, I'm sure thousands of people do. I know I agree with her." Zuko was enraged even more.

"HOW IS _THAT_ SUPPOSED TO MAKE ME FEEL BETTER!?" Jun looked at him.

"It made me feel better." Zuko growled at her and walked out of the room slamming the door behind him. Katara squatted down under the table bowing her head, her hands clenched in fists and next to the top of the table. She was gritting her teeth trying not to cry. She was so angry at Zuko, the girls, and herself. Why was she acting so stupid today? The girls looked at each other.

"Well there's always tomorrow." One girl said. Just then the door flung open, Zuko was back.

"I have something I want to say to you." The girls perked up and huddled around Zuko. Zuko smiled at them. "I think you all need to find a better way to pass your free time. You obviously don't know this so I'm telling you right now that your advances on me are in vain." Zuko chuckled and the girls looked at him, some puzzled, others heat broken. "I would _never_ date any of you…EVER!!" He slammed the door in their faces and continued his way to the guidance consular to change his elective. The girls stood there in silence. Katara smiled, _serves them right._ One of the girls still standing crossed her arms.

"What a jerk!"

…--…

"What kind of dance was that?!" The teacher asked. She took his dance as his way of mocking her class.

"Hey I was just doing what you told us to do. I let the music flow through my body and that's what it produced. If you don't like it you should play a better song." The teacher was outraged.

"Do you know nothing of dance!?" Sokka was about to say yes when he remembered something.

"Well…I do know one dance…"

"What?" The teacher was puzzled, but then realized if he knew a dance then it probably didn't exist.

"Yeah. But it was a while ago..."

"What kind of dance is it?" The teacher asked. Sokka tried to think back.

"A waltz…I think." The teacher didn't believe him.

"Show us then." Sokka flushed, he didn't expect to give a demonstration.

"Well…it was a really long time ago and I don't know if I remember it and…"

"Show us!" Sokka looked at Suki hoping for help. She just shrugged. She didn't know what to do.

"Ok…" Sokka tried to remember how to even start it. He stood and lifted his arms to take the position with…a nonexistent person… "Wait, can I have a partner?"

"A real dancer doesn't need a partner…" The teacher crossed her arms. She was trying to make this as painful as she could for Sokka.

"Right, right…" Sokka breathed in and closed his eyes. He resumed the position. "Well…here we go…" He tried to think back to that night. _He remembered sneaking out at night and meeting a white haired girl under a bridge. _Sokka took his first step and started the dance. _The only light was the moon and there was a faint sound of music floating through the cold air. She took his hands and helped guide him through the steps._ The class watched as Sokka began to move across the room in a simple waltz box step. _They turned for the first time. He was happy he had gotten it and she laughed. They continued to dance and he spun her. They turned again but this time he had stepped on her foot. _Sokka faltered for a second and then resumed the dance, his eyes still closed. Suki could hear him humming a song. The class watched as Sokka's simple box step turned into an elaborate waltz with turns, a dip, and what looked like several spots for his partner to add their own flourishes and spins. _"I'm so happy when I'm with you." She whispered in Sokka's ear. They continued to dance. They were happy yet he could tell she was still upset. She stopped dancing abruptly. "What's wrong?" he asked. She bowed her head, "I'm sorry Sokka…"_ Sokka stopped dancing and opened his eyes. The music vanished, the cold air blended into the room's air conditioning, the moon turned back into a florescent light, and the girl was gone. Sokka looked down at the floor, "I don't know how it ends…"

"That was beautiful!" The teacher exclaimed as the class began to clap amazed. _So he did have some talent,_ she thought. Suki ran up and hugged Sokka as the other kids gathered around patting him on the back telling him how amazing he was.

"I didn't know you could dance!" Suki said.

"I didn't know either."

…--…

Ty Lee was warming up with the other girls before try outs. She had checked in and had the number 17 taped to the front of her shirt. She looked around. No Azula yet. All the other girls looked just as good and just as pretty as she did. _Stupid Mai_, Ty Lee thought, _the only way I'll even get considered is if Azula…_

"Hey Ty Lee! Getting ready?" It was Azula.

"Oh good you came!" Ty Lee smiled.

"Of course. I wouldn't be a friend if I didn't come to cheer you on." Ty Lee saw the lion clip in Azula's hair.

"Yeah, I guess you wouldn't be…" Azula smiled and looked around.

"Are those the judges?" She pointed to three girls sitting at a table talking amongst themselves along with a teacher.

"Yeah, that's the head cheerleader, the two co-captains, and the coach." Azula grinned looking at the three girls.

"I see." She smiled at Ty Lee. "Well good luck. I'll be sitting in the bleachers cheering you on."

"Great!" Ty Lee said going back to her stretches trying not to look at Azula.

"Oh, and Ty Lee." She looked up. "Here, consider it a good luck charm." Azula dropped the lion clip in the grass in front of Ty Lee before walking away. Ty Lee picked the clip up and examined it. Nothing unusual, it looked exactly as it had when Ty Lee got it. The only difference was that there was a strand of Azula's hair on it. She plucked the hair out. _What was all that about?_ She shrugged and clipped the pin into her own hair smiling. _At least I got my clip back._

…--…

"Katara, what's wrong?" Sokka asked as they were walking home from school together. Suki had a volleyball meeting to go to after school today.

"I said something really stupid, and it came back and bit me in the butt." Katara looked down at the ground. Karma was such a jerk.

"Well, what did you say?"

"I told Zuko's fan club that I didn't understand how they could like him…and I kinda mentioned his scar. They took it all the wrong way and told him. And now he hates me."

"Oh, I'm sure he doesn't hate you."

"He's transferring out of the class…"

"So? He hated that class anyway." Sokka looked at his sister. She was still upset. "Look, you know Zuko's unreasonable sometimes. But he always comes around. Just talk to him. I'm sure things will get better." Katara smiled at Sokka.

"You're right." Sokka put his arm around his sister.

"Now guess who dazzled his dance class with his dashing moves?"

…--…

"Number 17!" The head cheerleader called. Ty Lee walked out onto the mat.

"What will you be doing for us today?"

"I'll be doing a tumbling combination along with a spirited chant."

"Go Ty Lee!!" Everyone turned to see Azula sitting in the crowd. Ty Lee just smiled nervously and waved.

"Alright, show us what you've got." She started by standing up straight her hands down tightly at her side her head down. She picked her head up smiling. She started clapping her hands together at an upbeat tempo to go with her chant.

"We're dynamite! We're dynamite! We're!" She went into her combination. She did four backhand springs while screaming "Tick-tick, tick-tick, tick-tick, tick-tick," to go with each one. After, she ended with a back 5/2 twist front punch, during which she yelled "BOOM!" the first time she hit the ground and ended the move by sticking the landing perfectly and standing straight up her hands in fists. Her left hand was on her hip and her right hand was up in the air. "DYNAMITE!!" Ty Lee stood there smiling. Smiling was the most important part at a cheerleading tryout.

"Wow!" One of the co-captains said applauding. The rest of the spectators joined in. Ty Lee's smile widened. She started to look around. Everyone was cheering, including Azula. So far nothing went wrong.

"That was quite nice." The head cheerleader said. "Now we're going to give you a set of combinations to do." Ty Lee held her breath. No doubt Azula told them to give her the hardest and probably the most impossible combination to do. "We'd like to see you do an aerial cartwheel, whip back, followed by a round off, and end with a back twist please." Ty Lee just stared at her.

"Is that it?"

"Yes." Ty Lee was stunned. That wasn't challenging at all. Her combination was more difficult than that. Ty Lee just shrugged and smiled.

"Ok."

…--...

Zuko had taken his bike to school and locked it up to a fence next to the back entrance of the tea shop that led to the kitchen. He walked in and made his way to the curtain that divided the kitchen from the dinning room, greeting the cook who was cooking small dishes for the customers. Once in the dinning room he took a sharp right to the door that led to the locker rooms, employee lounge, and the staircase to his uncle's apartment. He walked up the stairs and opened the door to the small living area. He walked to his room to change out of his school uniform and into his work clothes. He then went to the kitchen and found the long list his uncle prepared for him. First on the list was to fix the hole in the wall. Zuko would have to go to hardware store for that, so he just skipped to the second thing which was to clean the entire house before his shift started at 4. Zuko look at the clock. He only had an hour.

…--…

"Appa! I got a surprise for you!" Aang said bursting into his room. Aang lived with the other monks in the dormitory upstairs. His room was right on the northwest corner of the temple. He had a nice view of the city and of the temple gardens. Appa was curled up on Aang's bed sleeping. Appa was a miniature air bison with six legs, shaggy fur, and a wide paddle like tail. He was a very strange creature that normal people would be freaked out by, which was why he stay in the temple. Sure the monks questioned Aang's taste in pets, but they decided to comply as long as Aang made sure Appa stayed out of trouble. "Hey where's Momo?" Appa grunted towards to the window. Aang had left it open. "OH NO!!" Aang ran to the window and stuck his head out. "MOMO?! MOOOOOOOOMOOOOOOO!!" He felt something land on his head. Aang stuck his head back inside and closed the window. "What are you doing buddy? You know you're not supposed to fly around by the city during the day. What if someone saw you?" Momo was a batish-lemurish…thing…that would also probably freak normal people out. Momo eyed the noodle picture Aang brought for Appa and started to pick at it. "No Momo, that's Appa's. Here, Toph made you one." Aang dug Toph's picture out of his bag and handed it to Momo. Momo grabbed it and tried to pick at it. "No don't do that!" Aang took the picture away and taped both noodle arts on the wall next to the door. "There we go. Now let's get something to eat. I think the monks baked rolls last night." Momo sat on Aang's head while Appa flew off Aang's bed and landed on the ground. He began to walk follow Aang down the hall.

As the three of them walked to the kitchen Aang remembered the first time he brought Appa and Momo home. The elder monks were frantic and told him how pets weren't allowed while the younger monks were curious about them and wondered where Aang had even found them. In the end the monks accepted the two new residents into their temple, after all Aang was quite the trouble maker so they expected no less from him than to bring home two strange animals.

Aang, Katara, Toph, Zuko, and very few others all had a secret, they could bend the elements to their will. Katara was a waterbender, Toph was earth, Zuko was fire, and Aang was air. They could only control that element along with others who were born with that talent. Aang was special though, not only was he the only airbender in the entire world, but he was also the avatar so he had control over all the elements. He was also the bridge between the real world and the spirit world. The monks knew this, which was why Aang received special treatment from them. Being the avatar was like being the Dali Lama. He was the spiritual leader that possessed all the knowledge and gifts of the avatars before him. Unlike the Dali Lama though, he wasn't quite as famous or even known by anyone outside the temple world except his friends. He was still just a kid so the older monks had the spiritual leader responsibility. The monks were the only ones who knew about benders, beside their family and close friends of course.

Aang got to the kitchen and started raiding the cabinets. Momo sat on the counter and was picking at grapes in a bowl. Appa was sitting patiently for Aang to find him something.

"Hey Aang, Momo, Appa." One monk said walking by. He was older than Aang and was on his way to his room.

"Hey Jinju! Do you know where the monks put the rolls they baked yesterday?" Jinju thought for a second.

"I think they're up here." He crossed into the kitchen and opened the cabinet next to the oven. Inside were racks of freshly baked goods.

"Wow thanks!" Aang took two for himself and one for Appa. "You want one?"

"Sure." Aang handed one to Jinju. "You might want to skip meditation today." He said taking the roll. "Monk Abbot has been handing out work left and right. He made me water the gardens because I sneezed during prayer." Monk Abbot was one of the elder monks. He was very strict and normally conducted the meditation sessions.

"Eek, well thanks for the heads up." Jinju smiled.

"And thanks for the roll." He continued to his room.

…--…

Zuko finished as quickly as he could; he was still 10 minutes over. He ran downstairs to find his Uncle serving tea and laughing with two customers at a table. Uncle came back and smiled at Zuko.

"You're late." Zuko bowed his head,

"It won't happen again."

"I want you to clean the place up when you're not busy with customers. Also when you close please wash the windows and vacuum. I'll think of other things for you to while in my office." Zuko groaned. "Also!" Uncle turned around, "I want you to train our new employee. They start tomorrow at 5." Zuko nodded. Uncle just looked at him. "Well, what are you standing around for? As you can see we're very busy and you have a lot of work to do tonight." Uncle walked to his office to take care of paperwork and catch up on sleep. Zuko started tidying up before the bell rang.

"I've got table five, two, and ten's orders ready." The cook said pushing trays out the little window that went to the kitchen. Zuko looked around. Two other waitresses were working, but it looked like Uncle had told them to relax as soon as Zuko got there. Zuko quickly began taking the trays to the tables when the front door opened and new customers came in waiting to be seated.

"Please sit where you'd like and I'll be with you in a moment." He said walking by to get the last tray to bring it to the table. The door opened again with more customers. Zuko was about to say the same thing to them when he heard the kitchen bell ring again. _Great…_

…--…

"Ty Lee you were great!" Azula said after tryouts had ended.

"Thank you Azula." Ty Lee was a little weirded out. Nothing had gone wrong in fact everything went great. _I guess Azula just came to give her support after all_, she had even given Ty Lee's clip back.

"So, when do you know if you made the cut?"

"They'll post the results tomorrow." They walked by the three cheerleaders who judged the tryouts. They were headed to the bathroom.

"We should celebrate." Azula said, "Let's go some place really nice to eat, my treat!" Ty Lee was stunned. Azula acting nice? It was definitely a change, but it was a change Ty Lee could live with.

"That's sounds great!"

"You go get your stuff together, I'm gunna run to the bathroom."

"Alright." Azula left and Ty Lee did some cool down stretches. She thought about what Mai said, about Azula being up to something. She couldn't figure out what though. Azula was being really nice to her, she was actually acting like a friend, so was this just part of her plan or was she just being nice? Ty Lee decided not to dwell on it and just enjoy the nice Azula as long as it lasted, but she also wouldn't let her guard down either. She got her gym bag and put her stuff in. Azula came back.

"Ready to go?"

…--…

"Hey you two." Hakoda said coming back from work and seeing Katara doing homework at the table and Sokka lying on the couch watching TV.

"Hi dad." Sokka said.

"How was your day?" Katara asked still a little down from her day.

"Mine was good." Hakoda could tell she was feeling down. "How was yours? Not as good?"

"I made Zuko angry and he transferred out of gardening. So tomorrow's the last day and if no one transfers I'll have to pick a new elective during the class on Friday."

"What about all those other people that signed up for the class?"

"They all signed up because of Zuko, and since he transferred out they didn't see a point in staying in."

"I'm sure things will look up. Who knows, maybe someone else will decide to take gardening."

"Yeah, I doubt it." Sokka said from the couch. Hakoda shot him a 'shut up' look.

"So how was your day Sokka?" he said walking over and scooting Sokka's feet off so he could join him on the couch.

"It was alright."

"Apparently Sokka can dance." Katara said bending water from the sink and into her empty glass.

"Really? I didn't know you could dance."

"Yeah, I'm pretty much a master."

"Well master, how's your homework coming along?" Katara teased.

"I'll get around to it."

…--…

Suki had gotten back home a little while ago and was watching TV. She was excited to be starting volley ball soon. The position for team captain was open too, so she was considering tryout for that.

"Suki?" Toph walked in the room holding a piece of paper.

"Yeah?"

"Does this look pretty to you?" She held up her paper. On it was a picture Toph drew with crayons. It looked like a picture of a house with two people but I was a bit off. The colors were strange too. The sky was orange, the people were purple, and the house was black and green. There was a grey square like thing with a yellow spiral in the middle of it in the sky above the house.

"It's lovely. But what's this thing?" Suki pointed to it and Toph felt where her hand was. She felt the wax of the crayon on the paper.

"Oh, that's the sun. Does it not look like that?" Suki looked at it again.

"Not really…to me it's like a circle. But then again, I've never actually _looked_ at the sun…" Toph got angry.

"UGH!! Aang lied to me!!" Suki tried to not laugh. Then she remembered something.

"Can't you tell when people are lying to you?"

"Aang was flying around on his air ball thing when he told me that. I couldn't feel it." Toph crumpled up her picture and tossed it in the trash can. "It doesn't matter, I'll just start over." She turned and walked back to her room. Suki picked up her picture from the trash and uncrumpled it. She wondered who the people were. Was it her and Toph? Or some one else and Toph. Was it even Toph? She smoothed it out and decided it was up to interpretation and put it on the fridge. Toph stuck her head back into the room.

"Hey Suki. Can you tell me what clouds look like too?"

…--…

Aang was lying on some pillows that were in the sitting area next to the kitchen. Appa was curled up next to him in a big fuzzy ball and Momo was still eating whatever he could find in the kitchen. An elder monk came up the stairs with a young monk, a little older than Aang. He saw Momo sitting on the counter and tried to shoo him away. Momo ran and jumped on Aang waking him.

"Aang, please keep a closer eye on your pets." The monk said walking over to Aang. Aang sat up and smiled at the monk. The monk's face was still stern. "And why are you napping? Shouldn't you be with the other monks meditating?" Aang remembered what Jinju said and tried to change the subject.

"Well what about him? Why isn't he there?" Aang said pointing to the young monk who was now in the kitchen.

"Monk Abbot asked him to clean the kitchen, I was told to escort him here because some of our younger ones have been running off lately avoid chores." Aang knew who the monk was talking about. He tried to worm his way out of it.

"Well you see—" Just then Aang's phone began to ring. He could hear it faintly from down the hall. "Oh someone's calling me! It's probably really important, I'll just take this and be right back!" Aang dashed down the hall and into his room. The younger monk picked his head up from cleaning the cabinets.

"How come he gets to have a cell phone?"

…--…

"Hello?"

"Hey Aang it's me!"

"Hey Katara. You just saved me from doing chores!"

"Glad to hear it." Katara was making dinner while she had the phone resting in between her head and her shoulder. "Anyway, I wanted to talk to you and hopefully get some of your infinite wisdom." Aang smiled as he lay on his bed.

"I'll see what I can do."

"Well, I kind of upset Zuko and I feel really bad about it. I mean I really didn't mean to. I was talking to these girls who are completely obsessed with him…" Katara continued to ramble. Aang heard scratching at his door and opened it for Appa and Momo to come in. Katara was still recounting her events while Aang said the occasional "uh huh, really? oh, I see" Aang started to yawn wanting to go back to his nap. He waited for a break in her rant.

"Look Katara. I know you didn't mean what you said. Zuko obviously thinks highly of you which is why he reacted like that. I think what you need to do is just apologize to him and explain how what you said got taken out of context."

"Your right Aang, I should do that. Sokka told me that too but I just really wanted…" _Oh come on…_ Aang thought as she started back up again. At least listening to Katara rant was better than cleaning the bathrooms.

…--…

Zuko was swamped. The telephone kept ringing, people kept coming in, tea and food just poured through the window ready to be served, and some customers were getting impatient. As Zuko ran back to bring out orders he passed the two waitresses.

"Can you guys give me a hand? I'm really swamped right here." The women looked at each other and one got up to help. As if on cue Uncle popped his head out.

"If you take one order you're fired." He closed his door. Zuko looked at the woman and she sat back down.

"Sorry Zuko." She said returning to the card game they were playing.

"Hey! Where's my food? I've been waiting for hours here!" Zuko felt like he was going to pass out as he quickly got more trays to serve.

…--…

Sokka was lying in his bed. He had just gotten his homework done. As he lay there he turned to look out the window. He could see part of the city from where he was and the night sky above it. The city's lights made it impossible to see any stars but the moon was still visible. He started to think about Suki, which led to thinking about sports, with led to his mind wandering. He smiled still looking out the window. He then began to hear the faint sound of music as he drifted off to sleep.

…--…

Finally, it was closing time at the tea shop. Zuko was beat. He had managed to run the entire place by himself with the exception of the cook. He began to clean up, by himself, and started to wash the windows. Uncle walked out of his office.

"Busy day?" He asked Zuko. Zuko just glared at him.

"Yes, it was very busy."

"I'm sure it was." Uncle began to walk towards the hallway. "Oh Zuko, when you're done come knock on the door and I'll see if things look like they're in order." Zuko couldn't believe it, Uncle was locking him out of the house until he had cleaned everything. "Make sure you clean the outside part of the windows too!"

…--…

Mai had gotten her homework done and had nothing else to do all night except read, watch TV, or go on the computer. Zuko still hadn't sent her anything and she was thinking about calling him. She then realized that he hadn't left her a phone number. She got on her computer to see if Ty Lee was on yet. It was starting to get late. She checked her e-mail and other online accounts. She thought about sending Zuko an e-mail, but she realized that his Uncle didn't have a computer.

Mai sat back in her chair and rested her feet on the desk. Still no Ty Lee. She started throwing darts at a picture she had of Zuko and her on the wall. Every time hitting Zuko someplace that looked very painful and she secretly hoped he could feel it. She checked the computer again. Ty Lee still hadn't gotten on and it was getting close to midnight. She was also down to her last dart.

Mai figured Ty Lee was still mad at her about today so she went ahead and turned her computer off. She threw her last dart at the picture. Instead of hitting Zuko though it hit her in the chest.

"Jerk," she muttered and got up to get ready for bed. As she lay waiting for sleep she hoped that Ty Lee didn't have any problems at try outs, and that wherever Zuko was he was miserable.

…--…

Zuko went back to the kitchen to put away some dishes. He looked in the sink and saw it was overflowing with dirty dishes. The cook hadn't done his job. He went up and knocked on the door.

"Uncle everything's in order." Uncle came out and looked around.

"Very good, very good." He nodded approvingly.

"The cook left without finishing up his job though." Zuko said. Uncle gave him a questioning look.

"What do you mean?"

"It doesn't look like he washed any dishes today. Or even clean up his work area." Uncle started walking back to the apartment.

"I know, I told him not to." Zuko starred at him in disbelief, his punishment still wasn't over. "Come back when you've finished in the kitchen."

…--…

Ty Lee came back home late after spending the entire time with Azula. She was tired. They had gone shopping, then went to dinner, then stayed and did karaoke (to Ty Lee's surprise) at the restaurant. Ty Lee went to her room and laid down on her bed. She still had homework to do. She got up and started it.

In the middle of homework she hit her mouse by accident which sparked her computer to come back from hibernation. As the screen turned on Ty Lee remembered something.

"Oh shoot! Mai!" Ty Lee quickly signed on to her account. Mai wasn't on. Ty Lee figured Mai was upset with her because of what happened today and went back to her homework.

…--…

Zuko was dead tired. It was well past midnight and he still needed to get his homework done. He walked up the stairs and knocked on the door.

"Uncle, everything's clean." He waited. "Uncle? Are you there?" He knocked again, harder. Still nothing. "Uncle?!" Uncle had fallen asleep and couldn't hear Zuko. "Aww crap…" Zuko said resting his head on the door.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**Torn Relations**

Uncle woke up and got ready for the day. He walked into the kitchen and started to brew tea and get breakfast going for Zuko and him.

"Zuko!" he called, "breakfast is almost ready! Wake up!" He began to set the table. Zuko hadn't come out yet. Uncle walked to his room and knocked on the door. "Zuko? Are you up?" He cracked the door to look in. He then opened it all the way to see that Zuko's room was empty. He walked out to the front door to see that it was unlocked. "Zuko?" Uncle said making his way down stairs. He continued walking down the hall towards to the dinning room when he heard a groan. The door to the employee lounge was cracked. Uncle peeked his head in to see Zuko asleep on the couch. "Zuko!" Zuko opened his eyes. "What are you doing sleeping down here?" Zuko looked up at him, still groggy, and rubbed his eyes.

"I tried calling for you when I was done but you were asleep."

"Did you try to open the door?" Uncle asked.

"Well…no…" Uncle chuckled. "What?" Zuko sat up.

"Zuko, I left the door unlocked for you."

"…what…"

"I trusted you wouldn't leave the kitchen a mess after I told you not to. Now come up stairs, I have breakfast ready." Uncle turned and walked out leaving Zuko to hit his head and mutter to himself about how stupid he was.

"So you didn't get your homework done?" Uncle said pouring Zuko tea. He turned and looked at the hole in the wall. "And I see you didn't fix the hole either."

"I'm going to go to the hardware store after school to get supplies to fix it."

"Don't worry about it. I'll fix it myself. I pushed you too hard yesterday."

"It was punishment Uncle, and I deserved it."

"I can write you another doctor's note so you can finish your homework." Zuko smiled.

"Thanks."

…--…

Sokka, Suki, Katara, Aang, and Toph had just gotten to Shi Middle and were saying their goodbyes to each other.

"Later guys." Sokka said.

"See ya"

"Bye!" Katara gave the normal kiss on the cheek to Aang.

"Have fun."

"You too Katara." Aang and Toph went in and Katara, Sokka, and Suki continued on.

"Suki, Sokka, can I ask you guys for a huge favor?" Suki looked at her.

"Sure, what do you need?"

"I really need you guys to get Zuko to sit with us at lunch. There's stuff I want to say to him so he won't hate me. And I really would like to be on good terms with him before school ends today."

"What happened?" Suki asked.

"Katara's got a big mouth and pretty much offended Zuko." Sokka said. Katara shot him a poisonous look. "What, it's the truth!" Katara looked at the ground.

"I know…"

…--…

"Ma'am, you might want to start heading out or you'll be late for school." One of Azula's maids suggested timidly as Azula was calmly finishing her breakfast.

"I'm well aware of the time. You should really worry more about yourself." The maid quickly looked down regretting her suggestion. "I have some unfinished homework to attend to, so I'll be going in late today." Azula stated rising up and leaving behind her dishes for the maid. She made her way to her study on the first floor and closed the door, locking it behind her. She smirked at she took out all of Mai's letters and all of Zuko's that she had found from Mai's mailbox. She took out a pair of scissors, glue, and a piece of paper. "Let's see what we can do today." Azula smirked and she began skimming through the first letter.

…--…

Zuko entered the class late again. He handed his note to the teacher and walked to his seat. He looked and saw the group of girls starring at him. Instead of them giggling and smiling at him, they were glaring at him and not talking. Zuko sat down and looked forward. He turned and saw they were taking notes. One looked up and saw he was looking at her. She gave him a disgusted look as if to say "What the hell do you want?" and he quickly looked forward again. He realized that having a Zuko fan club was probably better than having an anti-Zuko fan club. He silently regretted losing his temper and giving them such a harsh rejection.

…--…

Once again, Aang and Toph were standing in a group for kickball teams.

"Well, guess I can't get too comfortable standing here with you since I won't be here for a while. You know, being MVP and all." Aang smiled. Although Toph's cockiness did get a little old sometimes, he was still happy that she was enjoying herself in a class she had despised.

"I wish I got to be first pick. It must be an awesome feeling."

"Eh, it's alright. You kinda get used to it." Toph smirked. "I'm sure one of these days you'll be picked first too."

"Alright, time to pick captains." The teacher said as all the older boys pushed their way to the front of the group. The teacher pointed to one "You and…" he looked around and saw Toph and Aang in the back. "You in the back." Aang couldn't believe it; he actually was getting picked to be a captain.

"Wow, really?! Me!?" Aang said. A bubble of happiness formed inside him.

"No, your friend." The bubble popped…

"Sweet!!" Toph said grinning from ear to ear. She made her way to the front to pick her teams. "Outta my way!" She said shoving people left and right.

"You get to pick first." The teacher said as Toph finally made it to the front. Aang's bubble started to form again. Toph knew he wanted to be picked first. He'll finally get to know what it feels like to be first pick.

"Hmmmm…" Toph said feeling the earth under her feet to "see" who she can pick from. She smiled. She didn't need to see to pick. She already had someone in mind… "You!" Toph said pointing at Aang. Aang smiled and stuck his chin in the air as he triumphantly strode over to Toph. "Aang what are you dong?" Toph asked as he was about to make his way completely out of the group.

"Didn't you pick me?" Aang was puzzled.

"No! I want the big guy behind you! He's got a strong kick!" Aang just stood there starring at her.

"Wha..what?"

"Excuse me!" The big kid said pushing Aang out of his way to stand behind Toph. Aang was crushed.

"B—but Toph! Why didn't you pick me?"

"I want a strong team! I'll pick you when I've got all the players I want." Toph smiled, punching Aang. Aang slumped and made his way to the back where he sat down, he clutched his knees to his chest, and rested his head on his knees. He waited to be picked while the crowd around him began to thin until it was just him and…the fat kid.

"I want arrow kid." The other team captain said. Aang looked at Toph while she just shrugged at him. Not only was Aang the last person Toph had planned to pick, but they were on separate teams.

…--…

Azula was finally finished with her "homework." She locked the letters, along with remains of letters, in her drawer and turned off the copy machine. She gathered her things for school and headed out locking the study's door behind her.

"I'm ready for school." Azula said to the first maid that passed by. "Have the driver get ready and tell him to hurry. I'm late enough as it is." Azula made it to the car and got in the back seat. Her driver began heading towards her school. "We need to make a quick stop at the post office first." The driver looked back at her in his rear view mirror.

"Why do you need to go there?" Azula was looking out the window but turned her gaze to the driver.

"My father's paying you to drive me places, not play twenty questions." She stated coolly. The driver quickly averted his eyes back to the road. Azula grinned and looked back out the window. "I just have some letters to mail out. That's all"

…--…

Sokka looked at the clock. It was almost lunch. He and Suki had been passing notes trying to figure out what to say to Zuko to get him to come down and sit with them. They still hadn't thought of anything. The bell rang for lunch. Sokka quickly got up and tried to get over to the other side of the room where Zuko was but everyone had got up and flooded out the room, including Zuko. Suki and Sokka ran out to the hall to try to catch him but the hallways were packed with kids getting out of class.

…--…

Aang's team was kicking first. He sat on the bench and watched Toph's team take the field. Toph was way out there so she wouldn't have to worry about catching anything. Aang watched sadly as kickers came and gone, either getting out, taking a base, or making it all he way home. He hated not being on Toph's team. He was all by himself. He looked out to see Toph laughing at kids and heckling new kickers. Aang couldn't help but smile. She looked like she was having so much fun. He looked at the other kids and decided he should have fun too. He saw two kids from his class sitting down and he decided to join them.

"Hey! I sometimes see you two flicking pieces of paper at each other during lectures."

"Yeah, we play games to pass the time."

"Really? Can you teach me? Cause it does get really boring in there. I mean I normally talk to Toph to pass the time but lately we've been getting in trouble for it." The other boy smiled.

"Yeah! We can teach you how to play. It'll be a lot more fun with three people."

"And we've got lots of other games too." The other kid chimed in.

"That's great!" Aang was excited. Not only was he making friends, but he was now going to be able to stay awake and pass the time during lectures with games. A few minutes later a really big kid was up to kick from Aang's team. While he continued to talk to his new friends, he kept his eyes on the game. The pitcher rolled the ball and the kid hit it hard. It went flying to the outfield, right where Toph was. "Oh no! She can't see!" Aang said jumping up and grabbing on the chain link fence that separated the dugout from the field. One of the kids heard Aang.

"Who's _she_?"

"TOPH!! LOOK OUT!!" Aang screamed shaking the fence.

"WHAT?!" Toph screamed.

"THE BALL'S HEADED RIGHT FOR YOU! IT'LL HIT YOU!!" Toph began to focus. She thought of where the kid was when he hit it, which way he was facing, when the ball left the ground, and what angle it was in. She breathed in and steadied herself, holding her arms in a cradle position ready to catch the ball. It came closer. Toph could hear wind rushing and took a step forward. The ball came zooming at her and hit her arms. She immediately brought her arms to her chest clutching the ball with her. The kicker was out.

"Alright Toph!" some kids around her cheered. Toph smiled.

"THANKS TWINKLE TOES!" She screamed out to Aang. He smiled. Although a few of the other kids on his team were furious that Aang had helped the other team, he was just glad Toph didn't get hurt.

…--…

"Is Zuko not coming?" Katara said as she got to where Sokka and Suki were.

"No…" Sokka said.

"Did you even ask him?" Katara said a bit panicked.

"We tried too, but he kinda got lost in the crowd." Suki said looking at Sokka. They both felt guilty for letting Katara down.

"Great, any ideas where he might be?" Katara said giving Sokka his lunch, she kinda wondered why he didn't just carry his own lunch…

"No clue. Maybe the library?" Suki suggested. Katara sat down facing the building that Sokka was leaning up against.

"No, there's people there. And knowing Zuko he'd be somewhere where no one would go." Sokka thought about Katara's gardening class story. "Did you check the garden supplies closet?"

"Ha ha Sokka…" Katara put her hands behind her and looked up at the sky. What Katara needed was a bright neon sign pointing to where Zuko was.

"Maybe we can try again tomorrow?" Suki asked hopefully.

"No, that's alright." Katara said watching the clouds pass by. The wind picked up and blew some clouds away that were blocking the sun. Katara put her left hand up to block the sun, her fingers pointing to the right. She looked at her hand and her eyes began to follow her fingers; something caught her eye. She put her hand down and turned to look up at building three. "Did you guys see that?" She turned to Sokka and Suki.

"See what?"

"I thought that—" she thought for a second. "Never mind." Katara went back to her lunch but looked back up at the roof of the building. She had a weird feeling that there was someone watching them from up there. "I'll be right back; I'm gunna go check on something." She got up and walked towards building three. Suki looked at Sokka who just shrugged and took a bite out of a biscuit.

…--…

Toph's team was kicking. Aang had his position in the out field and he watched the game from where he was. He was also so far out that no one could see him, so he passed the time airbending the grass around his feet making it dance. It was towards the end of class and Aang's team was ahead by one. There was one runner on the second base and they only needed one more out to win the game. A new kicker stepped up to the plate: Toph.

"COME ON TOPH!!" Aang yelled smiling. He saw Toph wave. The ball was pitched and Toph kicked it. Like always, it went flying, this time it was flying towards Aang. Aang smiled as he ran to catch the ball.

"GO AANG!!" Some kids began to yell as the ball came closer to him. Aang couldn't believe it. All he had to do was catch this ball and not only would his team win, but he'd also be the new hero of gym class and might even get picked first next time!

"AANG! AANG! AANG!" more kids added, their chants ringing in his ears. He was right underneath the ball and held out his hands to catch it. As soon as the ball was about to land into Aang's arms the earth under his feet shifted and caused him to lose his balance. Aang fell along with the ball. Toph and her teammate that was on second base had scored, winning the game.

…--…

Katara made her way up the stairs. She looked around for signs pointing to the roof in the hall, none. Her best bet was to just keep climbing. She made it to the top floor and walked around the halls, nothing but classrooms. She found a small hallway hidden in the maze of the floor's layout. There was a door that said staff only. She turned the knob and to her surprise it was open. She peeked her head in.

"Hello?" It was a small room with panels on either side. At the other end of the room was another door. Katara walked in and shut the door behind her moving towards the door. She opened it. It led to a small very dim stairway that had yet another door at the top. The door had a sign on it but it was too dim for her to make out what it said. She made her way to the top stumbling on some of the steps. She turned the knob and pushed against the door. It was really heavy. She pushed harder and the door began to open slowly, light flooding in through the cracks. Finally the door opened. She was blinded by the sunlight and heard someone scatter to hide. She stepped out onto the roof. The wind was blowing quite strong up there and there was a beautiful view of the city. Katara starred at it before closing the door behind her. "Hello?" She said taking a few steps forward and looking around. "Zuko?" There was an air duct sticking up from the roof and it bent at a right angle making a long, silver, bench-like thing. Zuko got up from behind it.

"What are you doing up here?"

"What are _you_? Are you even allowed to eat your lunch here?"

"No one's stopping me." He was starring at her full on. She walked towards him and he remembered his scar. He turned to the left so it was facing away from her. "What do you want?" Katara walked right up to him till the only thing between them was the air duct. He turned further to the left.

"I want to apologize and clear up some things that happened in gardening yesterday." Zuko sat down his back against the air duct.

"I'm not going to sign back up for that class." He said still looking away. Katara walked around the air duct till she was standing a little bit away from him on his left. Zuko put his hand on the left side of his face with his thumb resting just under his ear, blocking her view of his scar and rested his elbow on his left knee.

"I'm not asking you to. And it was wrong of me to force that on you to begin with." She sat down next to him. "Thank you for putting yourself through that for my sake." Zuko turned his head to look at her through the space between his thumb and index finger.

"You cause more trouble for me than you're worth." Zuko said turning his head back.

"I know. And I'm sorry." Katara noticed the position Zuko was in and realized what he was doing. She bowed her head, ashamed. "I want you to know those girls took everything out of context."

"So you did say those things then."

"No I didn't, I just—"

"—said those things but in a nicer way." Katara frowned.

"I just asked them why they liked you so much. I thought I would be doing you a favor to know what it was they liked about you and try to…" Katara tried to think of the right words, but nothing was coming to her.

"Try to what?"

"I don't know. Get them to leave you alone I guess…" Zuko closed him eyes and crossed his arms.

"So you persuaded me to come out so they could leave me alone. Right, that makes sense…"

"No, I'm just trying to tell you why I started talking about you. I asked them why they even liked you, and they interpreted that as me asking how_ could_ anyone like you. If I said that I didn't understand how anyone could like you then that would be a lie. I know why people like you. You're a likeable person. Toph, Suki, Sokka, Aang—they all like you. And I do too."

"So why did you make me get out? Do you show people you like them by forcing them to do things they don't want to do?"

"Well…it was kind of peer pressure and—" Zuko stood up enraged.

"You mean you abused my trust, said all those things to make me think you actually cared about me, and made me go through all that just so you could be the classroom hero?" Katara was frightened. This was the exact opposite of what she had come to do.

"No Zuko! Please listen to me. You're being too hot headed—"

"I have every right to be! You're making my life miserable Katara! You make me do things I don't want to do and then you go and say all those things about me and you..." Zuko cut himself off. He just stood there looking down at her, still shaking from anger. Katara had tears slowly rolling down her face. He turned away from her. Zuko was still hurt by what she said before, about his appearance. He didn't want to go into that though. He'll just apologize, that way she'll stop trying to hunt him down to ask for his forgiveness and they only time he'll have to see her is when he's with Sokka. "I'm sorry, Katara. I forgive you." Zuko closed his eyes and bowed his head. He was still hurt, but at least now she'll leave him alone and he can move on with his life. He opened his eyes, a bit startled. Her arms were around his waist in a hug and her head was leaning against his back.

"Thank you Zuko. I'm very sorry for all that I did." Zuko just stood there looking down. Katara let go and started walking back to the door. "I'll see you later." Zuko turned to face her.

"Yeah. Bye…"

…--…

Mai sat in the usual place waiting for Ty Lee to come. She hadn't talked to her since their fight in the bathroom and she wanted to know what happened at the tryouts. Ty Lee came and sat with Mai.

"Hey," she said pulling out her lunch.

"Hi." Mai noticed the lion clip in Ty Lee's hair. "You got your clip back? How'd that happen?"

"Azula gave it back to me as a good luck charm for tryouts." Mai looked stunned.

"What?"

"Yeah, that's what I thought too."

"Did she do anything nasty yesterday?"

"Actually, everything went fine. Azula just came out and supported me, just like she said she was going to do. She even took me shopping and out to eat. We even sang karaoke!" Ty Lee smiled remembering the sight of Azula trying to sing "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" with her.

"…you've got to be kidding me…" Since when did Azula do karaoke?

"That's what I thought, it was so unlike her. She was acting…nice. And I actually had a really good time."

"Something must be up." Mai said crossing her arms thinking. "But what could she gain by acting nice?"

"Who knows? Maybe she's changed?" Mai grunted.

"Are you that gullible Ty Lee?" Ty Lee felt foolish. "There's no way Azula's just…changed out of the blue."

"People do change Mai." Ty Lee said getting a bit bold. "You used to be boring and so unfun. You're still that way, but at least you've grown a bit warmer after dating Zuko…"

"Well you're still the same attention seeking overly happy brat." Mai sneered. Ty Lee scowled and looked away.

"At least I had one fun night with Azula instead of another dreary night with you." Ty Lee began to eat her food. Mai hissed at her.

"Whatever…"

"Hey girls." Azula said sitting down with them.

"Hi." Mai said glaring at her.

"Hey Azula. I didn't see you in math today." Ty Lee said. Azula and Ty Lee were in the same grade so they had some classes together. Mai was a year older than them.

"I wasn't feeling good so I spent the morning in the nurse's office." Azula said eating her lunch.

"Not feeling like _yourself_?" Mai asked rather coolly. She looked at Ty Lee. Ty Lee looked back but quickly turned away.

"I'm still myself Mai. I was just myself with a headache and feeling nauseous. Nothing major though. The nurse just said I was dehydrated." Azula turned to Ty Lee. "So, any word about tryout results?"

"Not yet. The results will be posted after school." Ty Lee smiled. Azula smiled back.

"Well I'm sure you did exceptionally well. I bet you even got an officer position." Ty Lee laughed.

"Azula, even if I did do that good I'm just a freshman. I don't think any freshman's ever been an officer on the varsity team."

"Well you never know." Azula said brushing off the subject. "I guess we'll just have to see the results." Azula grinned and went back to her lunch. Mai just glared at her. She was up to something, and Mai made sure she was going to watch Azula very carefully…

…--…

"Before we get into choreographing our own dances, I want us to get familiar with some basic dances. Today we will be focusing on Tango." Sokka thought about this. Wasn't tango a very touchy dance? He smiled and looked at Suki. "There's an odd number of you, so one of you will have to be my partner."

"I know who my partner is." Sokka said as he put his arm around Suki.

"Sokka, you will be my partner. You are a master of the waltz, so we'll have the two masters together." The teacher said smiling. After his performance yesterday, he was her new favorite student.

"What?!" The class started to snicker, even Suki who tried to hush herself. "But I wanted to be with—"

"Ok class. Find a partner." Sokka reluctantly made his way from Suki to the teacher. One of the boys started to walk towards Suki and passed Sokka. Sokka stopped him.

"Don't even think about it!" The boy smiled nervously and turned around to find a new partner.

…--…

Katara sat all by herself in gardening. She was looking through an electives guide she picked up from the office. Jun walked in, ten minutes late. She sat at her desk. Although she knew she was going to be out of a job in a day she still had the same smirk on her face.

"Well kiddo, I guess it's just you and me." Katara looked at the window. Her flower pot from yesterday was sitting on the counter getting sunlight.

"I guess it is."

"I wish you hadn't insulted the poor boy like that…"

"What?! You weren't very nice at all to him! What did Zuko do to you to deserve that?" Jun raised her eyebrow.

"You wanna know?"

"Yes!" Jun put her feet back on the floor and leaned forward, resting her head on her hands.

"He and his Uncle were in need of my assistance once so I traveled with them for a few days. He was rude to me the whole way. I guess he thought since he was paying me he could boss me around." Jun sat back in her chair. "You can buy my services, but you can't buy my respect." Katara was shocked, and curious.

"What did you do?"

"I'm very good at finding people, and they needed someone to be found. End of story." Katara was still curious, but it seemed like Jun wasn't going to go into details. "His Uncle had a thing for me too. It was rather annoying."

"What!? No way!" Jun gave her a questioning look.

"What, is it that hard to believe?" Katara thought it would be best to change the subject.

"Well, even if Zuko was rude to you, that's still no reason to treat him like that!"

"You didn't rise to his defense. And if I recall, you also said some pretty mean things."

"They were taken out of context, and I didn't mean them."

"Neither did I."

"Then why did you say them?"

"I like messing with people." She smirked. Katara realized Jun was probably messing with her too. "So, did you decide what class you want to take instead?"

"Not yet…" Katara said looking back at her guide.

"Take eschatology." Katara blinked and searched the guide.

"They don't offer that..."

"Well that's a shame. That was always my favorite class…"

…--…

"Aang wait up!" Toph said running to catch up with him after the release bell rang. Aang just continued walking. "What's wrong with you? You haven't said anything to me all day!"

"Oh really? I didn't notice…" Aang said. His voice was icy.

"Are you upset with me?" Aang spun around.

"Oh I don't know, what do you think?!" He whipped back around and continued walking.

"What did I do? Is this about gym?"

"Yes! It is!" Aang stopped and glared at her. "Why did you treat me like that?! I helped you and you went and did that to me!" Toph got defensive.

"Take it easy! You know me, I wanted to win. That's all. It's just a stupid game anyway." Toph said walking past Aang.

"I should be the one saying that to you!" Aang screamed back at her. "A game is supposed to be fun. I _was_ having fun and you seemed like you were too. I even helped you because I didn't want you to get hit. But then you went and cheated just because you wanted to win. You took the fun out of it for me just for your own selfish reasons!" Toph just scowled at him.

"This is really about me not picking you isn't it!"

"Oh don't even get me started on that! You knew how it feels to get picked last, but you did it to me anyway!"

"You didn't get picked last…"

"I _was_ picked last in _your_ mind!" Aang stormed off towards the temple leaving Toph to fume by herself.

…--…

Zuko was upstairs taking a nap. His Uncle felt bad that Zuko had slept on the couch in the lounge so he said he was giving him a break and letting him start work at 4:30. Zuko had gone to his room and finished his homework and make up work from being late before his nap. His Uncle knocked on his door.

"Zuko, it's almost 4:30. You need to get ready for work." Zuko got up and dressed in his work clothes: A short sleeved light green shirt that buttoned down a little bit on the side of his collar with gold trim, very dark green pants, and a green apron. He went downstairs and started working even though he still had ten minutes. The time flew for Zuko since his mind was elsewhere.

All he could think about was Mai. He really wanted to talk to her. Then again he really wanted to talk about Katara, and he knew Mai would probably just get jealous and refuse to listen. Probably call him a jerk. He wondered if she could tell what he was doing, maybe that's why she wasn't responding to any of his letters. He thought about talking to Aang. He was dating Katara after all, but what would Zuko say? Aang, your girlfriend's a jerk? Sokka would listen, but he didn't know if Sokka would be up for listening to Zuko complain about his sister, he probably does that enough himself. There was a part of Zuko that wanted to just release all of his frustrations of Katara, and another that kept telling him to forget it. She had caused so many problems in Zuko's life. She created problems in his relationship with Mai, she made it hard to hang out with Sokka without Zuko feeling like he was going to make Mai angry, she interfered with his education, she now knew of his secret lunch spot, she was indirectly responsible for the anti-Zuko fan club, she made him be reunited with Jun, she hurt his feelings, and she made him once again aware of his scar.

Zuko heard his Uncle greet someone. He was in the back so he couldn't see who. It must be the new person since he heard Uncle's office close. Zuko looked around at all the customers. Finally there was going to be less work for him to do around here and he'll be able to enjoy this place more. Even though he had to work constantly in Uncle's tea shop, it was Zuko's own personal haven. Here he could get lost in work and just think about happier times before summer. When they were all friends and Mai was not yet jealous of Katara and giving him smack for being in her company. Zuko smiled, it was Katara free and therefore problem free.

Zuko began to make his way towards the front picking up empty trays and cleaning tables along the way. The door to his Uncle's office opened.

"Zuko," Zuko walked over smiling. "I'd like you to show this young lady where the locker rooms are so she can get changed." Uncle smiled as a familiar girl walked out holding her new uniform in her hands.

"Hey Zuko!" Katara said smiling. Zuko's heart dropped. _You've got to be kidding me…_

…--…

Ty Lee raced out of her last class as soon as the bell rang and headed towards the gym. The list of the tryout results were going to be posted there. To her surprise there were already girls who had gotten there first huddled around the sheet taped to the door. Ty Lee squeezed her way through the crowd bumping and pushing into excited girls. She made it to the front and looked for her name. She was in shock. She read it again making sure she didn't read it wrong or if it was a typo. It was correct. Other girls noticed her name and starred at her. Ty Lee looked around when part of the crowd had died down a bit to find there were girls giving her looks. Some looked jealous, some happy for her, and some just puzzled. Ty Lee made her way out of the crowd.

"Hey Ty Lee!" Azula walked up to her. "What's wrong? Did you not make it?" Ty Lee looked up at Azula.

"No, I got on the team." Ty Lee said smiling a bit nervous. Azula looked puzzled.

"So then what's wrong?"

"Well, I…I'm now a co-captain…" Azula smiled.

"Oh I'm so happy for you! Congratulations!" Ty Lee smiled and shrugged.

"Thanks…"

"Are you not happy?"

"No! No I am! Really! I'm just…shocked, that's all…"

"Well you shouldn't be. You really were the best one who tried out." Azula said smiling. Ty Lee looked up at Azula and smiled.

"Thanks. Well I guess I'm going to be really busy now…"

"Are you still going to try out for the play?" Azula asked.

"Yeah, but I think I might just ask for a small part. It takes a lot of work to be co-captain and I'm already busy as it is." Azula put her arm around Ty Lee.

"I'm sure you'll be fine." Azula looked around. "Where's Mai? Why isn't she here?" Ty Lee shrugged and thought of what Mai said at lunch.

"I guess she had better things to do…"

…--…

Zuko turned and pinched the bridge of his nose, eyes closed, trying not to explode. His Uncle must still be mad at him.

"Zuko, don't keep the young lady waiting. She's on the clock!" Uncle said smiling. Zuko turned back around and starred at his Uncle.

"This way." He said as he sulked towards the locker rooms. Katara followed behind him briskly. She was eager to start working here. It was a nice place and the hours were flexible. She was a little hesitant about being trained under Zuko, but he had accepted her apology and she was determined to make things right and make up it up to him. They stopped in the hall way outside of the door. "This is the locker room. It's a unisex locker room so don't be surprised to see guys walking in." Zuko mumbled. Katara stood there smiling. "What are you waiting for?" Zuko said.

"Aren't you going to show me in?" Katara asked. She thought that was the purpose of the tour.

"Why? It's a locker room. It's pretty self-explanatory."

"Can I get a locker?"

"Do you really need one?"

"I would like one." Zuko sighed and opened the door for her to walk in. Zuko followed her. "Pick out a locker you want and I'll get the combination for it and sign you off for it while you get dressed." Katara looked at the lockers. Some of them had names on them and some were blank. She assumed the blank ones were the available lockers.

"Do you have one?" Katara asked looking for a locker she wanted.

"Yeah, it's called my room upstairs." Zuko watched as Katara carefully examined a locker, thought about it, and then went to look at another one. _All the lockers are alike, why is she taking so long…_

"Ok, I want this one." Katara pointed to a locker towards the right end of the locker wall.

"Alright, go get dressed and I'll have everything ready." Katara looked around. There were stalls with shower curtains on them.

"Are these changing rooms or showers?"

"Does it matter? You can use them to change."

"Ok…I guess I'll find out." Katara walked into one and pulled the curtain shut. "They are showers!" Zuko couldn't believe how annoying she was. Was she really this inquisitive, or did she just like bothering him. Zuko went to the locker that said "Iroh" on it and opened it. Inside was a little box on the top shelf with all the locker combinations. He found Katara's locker, number seven. Under the tab were three cards: one for Katara, one extra, and one for the records. Zuko wrote her name on the one for the office and took one of the extras out to give to her. He put the box back and took out a clip board. He wrote her name next to the number seven and put his initials to show he assigned the locker to her. Then he took a piece of masking tape and wrote her name on that as well and stuck it on her locker. He locked Iroh's locker back up and sat on a bench.

"Are you ready?" Katara pulled back the curtain dressed in the tea shop uniform. For girls it was a pretty spring green dress with a delicate gold pattern on it and green trim, and an off white half apron. Zuko smiled, Mai would kill Zuko if he ever suggested she wore it, even if it was cute.

"How do I look?"

"There's a mirror over there." Katara looked at herself in the mirror. "Here's a card with your locker combination on it. Don't lose it." Katara went to her locker and put her stuff in it and put the card in her pocket. "There are bathrooms in the back of the locker room too. You have to do your own laundry." Katara nodded and they exited to continue the tour. "This is the employee lounge. You can take breaks in here or just relax before your shift starts." The room had a couch (which Zuko spent the night on), a small table, two chairs, and a very small kitchen area with a fridge. They walked back into the hall.

"What's up there?" Katara asked pointing to the stairs.

"That's where my Uncle and I live." They walked into the dinning room. "This is the dinning room of the tea shop where customers…dine…there are tables and chairs here for our customers, keep them clean…" _Zuko must not do this often_ Katara thought, _He's not very good and not too enthusiastic._ "…there's the bar, bathrooms are further back, and here's the window that trays come out of. Take them to the customers when the bell rings. The kitchen's back here…" Zuko pulled the curtain back and waved for her to follow. "Here's the kitchen. This is where the cooks…cook…" There was a cook back there working. He looked up and saw Katara.

"Is this the new girl?" He said smiling.

"Yep." Katara smiled and waited for Zuko to introduce her. Nothing happened.

"I'm Katara."

"I'm Luke. Nice to meet you."

"You too!"

"—Ok let's go." Zuko said going back into the dinning room. Zuko looked around for the closest waitress. He pulled her aside. "Hey, Robie, can you tell her what to do around here while I talk to my Uncle for a second?" She looked like she was in the middle of something but she shrugged.

"Yeah."

"Great!" Zuko quickly walked away to his Uncle's office.

"I'm Katara, nice to meet you." Zuko heard as he opened the door. He closed it behind him.

"Zuko? Aren't you busy training Katara?"

"Robie's handling it right now, I gotta talk to you."

"What's wrong?" Uncle looked concerned.

"Why Katara?!"

"I know her. She's a respectable person and a hard worker."

"Out of all the people though…her??"

"You didn't see the people I saw…" Uncle shook his head trying to forget the memories… "And if you don't like my choice you should've been there to help me pick. Is this because of Mai?"

"Does it matter?" Uncle frowned at Zuko. "Look, Katara and I aren't really on good terms right now."

"Then I suggest you make up. You should be comfortable around each other if you're going to be working together."

"Can't you just hire someone else?"

"There was no one else who I felt was qualified for the job." Zuko gritted his teeth and turned to leave. If Uncle wasn't going to fire her then he was going to make her so miserable that she'll quit. As he opened the door Uncle said one last thing. "Zuko, if Katara quits under questionable circumstances, I will be _very_ upset. Understand?" Zuko remembered the fireball Uncle shot at him before. "Remember Zuko. Open mind, and open heart."

…--…

Robie was trying her best to break down all the abbreviations for orders they used for Katara. Katara stumbled through some of them, but for the most part she got them.

"You're a fast learner." Robie smiled.

"Thanks." Katara smiled back.

"Alright, now when we're done filling out the tickets we—"

"Robie you can go, I'll take it from here." Zuko was back.

"Alright. Have fun, hun. You're doing fine." Robie said giving Katara a squeeze on the arm and getting back to work.

"So did Robie show you how to do the tickets?"

"Yes, but I—"

"Great. I think we can move on." Zuko continued to rush the training. He wanted to get it over with as quickly as he could.

…--…

Toph walked into her apartment slamming the door behind her. Suki was in the living room doing homework.

"Well you're home early. No plans with Aang today?" She asked.

"No. The crybaby's having a hissy fit because my team beat him today in gym." Toph spat stomping to the kitchen to find something to eat.

"Are you sure that's the only reason he's angry with you?"

"Well what of it?!"

"Nothing. Just asking."

"Well what about you? Did you do something to make Sokka mad at you?" Suki smiled.

"Not yet, but I'm getting there." She joked. "He said he had things to do today." Toph found some food and marched to her room slamming the door shut behind her. Suki thought it would be best to go and talk to her after she cooled down a bit.

…--…

As Aang got to the temple he changed out of his school uniform and into his temple clothes. To his surprise though, Momo and Appa weren't in his room. _They must be out in the gardens,_ Aang thought. Aang attended a quick meditation session to cool him down after his fight with Toph. After he was down he got up and took a walk around the temple. He still couldn't believe her. How could someone be so selfish? Unfortunately for Aang, his mind was elsewhere, which is why he didn't see Monk Abbot walk around the corner and bump into him.

"There you are Aang. I've been looking everywhere for you." Aang snapped back and realized where he was.

"Ohh…well I…"

"No excuses. You've been slacking in your teachings, exercises, and most importantly, in your chores…" _Oh no…_ Aang thought. "I'm sure a quick trip around the gardens pulling weeds would do well to clear your mind and help set you back on the right path." Monk Abbot smiled as he walked on. Aang groaned and started walking towards the temple gardens. "I will be around to check your progress later, so no slacking!"

…--…

"Zuko, you're still mad at me, aren't you?" Katara said, looking down at the ground frowning. They were sitting in the lounge, Katara was sitting on the couch and Zuko was sitting in one of the chairs with his arms crossed.

"Why would you think that?" Zuko snapped.

"You haven't looked at me once this whole time and well…"

"Well what?"

"My training's over and I still have four hours left for my shift."

"So, do something."

"I can't. Your Uncle told me not to do anything without your permission and you won't talk to me."

"You have my permission to work." Zuko said. Katara blinked and frowned. She got up to leave.

"Alright. If I have any questions can I—"

"You can ask one of the waitresses."

"Right…" Katara left and Zuko sat by himself for a while thinking. He got up and walked out to the dinning room to see how Katara was doing. He leaned against the wall and watched her. She was doing a fine job so far. She was fast and efficient, she was nice to customers, and the staff really liked her too. Katara walked over with empty trays to bring to the kitchen. Zuko took a deep breath in and followed her. As soon as she put the trays by the sink to be washed he stopped her.

"Katara can I talk to you for a second?" She nodded.

"Sure." She thought they would go to the lounge but instead he led her out the back door to the alley behind the shop. Zuko obviously didn't want the other employees to hear what he was going to say.

…--…

A good twenty minutes into pulling out any weeds that he saw around the path, Aang bumped into his pals Appa and Momo.

"Hey guys!" Aang said as Momo sat on his head. Appa walked up to Aang and licked his leg. "Wanna help me pull weeds?" Aang said smiling. Momo took off and Appa gave out a low roar. "Yeah…that's what I thought…" At least Appa stayed by his side while he followed Aang around and watched him pluck weeds out from the path. Appa did occasionally eat one or two weeds along the way. "What have you guys been doing anyway? Just running around the gardens by yourselves?" Appa grunted. Aang heard Momo's clicking sound coming from a shrine that was near a small pond with koi fish and covered in water lilies on top of a hill. It was overlooking the gardens. There were bushes surrounding it too which made it difficult to see through. Aang made his way up to find Sokka with Momo walking down from the hill.

"Hey Aang."

"Hey! What are you doing here? Is Katara with you?!"

"No, she got a job, so she's at work."

"Oh, I see…" Aang frowned. It felt like he never saw her anymore. "Well what are you up to?"

"Just taking a walk with old friends and enjoying the gardens." Sokka said. "These two seemed really happy to see me. You should spend more time with them!" Aang smiled. "So, what's Toph up to?" Sokka asked. Aang looked away.

"I don't know or care…"

"Why? What happened?"

"She didn't pick me for her team today and I ended up being last pick, and then I go and help her play but when I'm about to win the game she cheats so that she wins!" Sokka thought about this.

"Well that does kinda sound like Toph…"

"I hate it! Why is she so selfish!?"

"Aang, I think you calm down. Toph just gets carried away sometimes. And you were playing sports which really aren't her forte since…you know…she's blind and all." Aang looked up at Sokka. "I think she was just happy to overcome her disability and took it too far. I'm sure she didn't mean to hurt you." Aang thought about this. He sighed.

"You're right Sokka. Besides, it's just a stupid game. I'm really taking it too personally…" Sokka smiled.

"It's fine. I'm sure she is too. But just give her time, she'll come around."

"Thanks Sokka."

"Anytime!" He smiled. "I'm gunna get going though. I'll see you around." Aang smiled.

"Alright." Sokka walked through the gardens and out of sight toward the temple. Aang continued on up the hill towards the shrine. Aang passed by and bowed to show respect to the spirit. He looked up after bowing and noticed someone had recently placed flowers on it: Forget-me-nots.

…--…

"I've got some issues with you." Zuko said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I've been thinking about it and you've really caused a lot for problems for me." Katara looked uneasy.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize I was making your life so hard."

"I know, but I've been thinking about them, and well, there's really only two problems that I can't let go of right now." Katara looked at him.

"What?"

"Well for starters…" Zuko felt a little weird talking about this with her. "…my girlfriend Mai is, a little jealous of you…"

"What?! Why? Have we done something she should be jealous of?"

"She thought we were too close."

"But we're friends!"

"Well she didn't see it that way. So she made me promise that I wouldn't be a really close friend to you. That's why I ignored you in the beginning. I just feel like I'm betraying Mai." Katara couldn't believe that Mai had Zuko on such a short leash.

"Zuko, that's crazy. We're friends. _Just_ friends and nothing more. If Mai can't see that then that's her problem, it shouldn't be yours too. Besides, I have a boyfriend. I'm with Aang and we're both really happy and aren't going to break up anytime soon."

"I just don't want Mai to be upset."

"If Mai gets upset about you having a friend that's a girl, then you should be upset that she doesn't trust you. I'm sorry Zuko but that's a crazy reason to end a friendship. Don't let Mai's insecurities run your life." Zuko thought about this and bowed his head. She was right yet again. He looked up smiling, until his eye caught the reflection in the window of the building. There was still one problem left, and he really didn't want to talk about it. Zuko turned away from Katara and leaned against the chain link fence where his bike was chained. He folded his arms and rested them on the top of the fence.

"There's something else…" those were the only words Zuko could bring himself to say. Katara realized what he meant. She thought he had forgiven her for it, but I guess it still wasn't completely forgotten.

"Zuko, I'm really sorry about the things I said. I just, didn't think you'd care so much about it." Zuko turned and looked at her. He wanted to say something but couldn't think of what. He turned his head back away from her, looking down the dark alley between the tea shop and other buildings. "To me you just don't seem like the person who cares about appearance…"

"Katara. I iron my pants everyday and I'm probably the only guy at school who wears the uniform properly. Let alone the only guy who actually knows how to tie a tie." Katara was stunned. Zuko actually cared about his looks. She thought about what the girls had said about good looking guys and realized it probably was a good thing Zuko had a scar. "You know how my family is, presentation in everything." Katara bowed her head.

"I'm sorry Zuko. You just act so tough and you go off and do your own thing so, I guess I just figured you didn't care about what other people thought."

"It's not that." Katara was now more confused as ever.

"Then what is it?" Katara walked up next to Zuko on his left. As she did this Zuko spun around to the right and leaned his back on the fence so his scar was away from her the whole time.

"I've had my scar for a while now and I know it's there. Just, there are times when I forget about it. And I can't remember the last time I was concerned about it before leaving the house…but when those girls brought up the fact that you thought I was ugly, I became self-conscious about it all over again." Katara looked horrified. She knew she had been insensitive to bring it up and she knew his feelings were hurt, but she didn't realize how great the damage was that she caused.

"Zuko, I'm so sorry. I was just trying to sway them away from liking you. I wasn't doing it to bring you down."

"So you _do_ think I'm hideous then…" Zuko said turning his head away from her to the left.

"No, I don't." Katara put her hand on Zuko's right shoulder. "I didn't mean any of those things that those girls said." Zuko turned to look at her. "You're not hideous. In fact you're actually…" Katara looked away and started to blush, "…well, kinda cute." Zuko smiled and recovered.

"Oh, and this is coming from a girl who's dating a short bald kid with an arrow on his head…"

"Hey!" Katara lightly hit Zuko's arm. She scowled at him; he just looked at her and started to smile trying to hold back a laugh. Katara tried too but she was much worse than Zuko and began laughing softly. "If you want, I can quit. I'm sure there's another place that'll hire me. Though maybe not as nice as your Uncle's tea shop." She said as soon as she recovered. Zuko remembered what Uncle had said, _"…if Katara quits under questionable circumstances, I will be __**very**__ upset…"_

"No, don't do that. You've already got a locker, you're doing a really good job, and everyone really likes you." Zuko looked back at Katara. "And I like you." He shrugged, "well, at least now I do anyway…" Zuko stopped leaning against the fence and made his way to the door. "We can get back and I'll supervise you while you work." He turned around to look at Katara again. "And thanks for this discussion Katara. I needed it." They both smiled as they walked back in.

…--…

Mai was sitting in her room alone. She still had so much she wanted to talk about concerning Zuko but Ty Lee wouldn't get online. Plus the fact that they were fighting didn't help either. _I'm_ _sure she's out partying with the new and improved Azula_, she thought. _If she gets hurt she better not run to me for help._ Mai sighed. There was nothing to do. She finished with her homework and went online already. The only thing on her mind was Zuko and there was no one to talk about it with. She got up to get a drink of water from the kitchen.

In the kitchen she found a maid tidying up. Mai looked at her and got a cup of water. She was about to leave to go back to her room when she turned around and looked at the maid again. Mai sighed and sat down in a chair near where she was cleaning.

"Are you busy?" Mai asked. The maid smiled and shook her head. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Of course." She answered and sat down near Mai. "What do you want to talk about?"

"My boyfriend."

"Ohhh…" the Maid said quickly putting down her cleaning supplies and leaning in to hear better. Mai rolled her eyes.

"Well, he hasn't really responded to any of my letters. And I really want to talk to him but I pretty much have no way of doing so." The maid nodded to show she was listening. "He didn't give me a phone number, he doesn't have a computer, and the only way I can contact him is by sending letters." Mai took a sip of her water and starred into the glass. "I think he's forgotten about me…"

"Oh honey, I'm sure he hasn't." Mai looked up. "He's a boy, and boys sometimes sdo stupid things like forget to reply to letters. He's probably very busy too."

"I just really want to see him."

"So what's stopping you?"

"Huh?"

"Well you have his address. Go visit him during the weekend." Mai smiled, and then remembered about school. She couldn't go this weekend because of a school event that Azula was forcing her to attend.

"I can't go this weekend…"

"So go next weekend."

"I don't have anyone to go with…"

"You'll have your man."

"But…"

"Honey, stop making excuses for yourself. You want to see him so see him. Don't keep yourself from living your life." Mai starred at her and took another sip of her water. She had a week to think of an excuse to tell Azula incase she wanted to know where she was during the weekend. She looked up at the maid who was smiling at her.

"Whatever." Mai said as she got up to go back to her room.

…--…

"So how was work today?" Hakoda asked as Katara was settled in at home.

"It was good. I thought it would be a little weird since Zuko and I weren't on good terms, but we got through it."

"That's good." Hakoda said smiling.

"So you're on good terms with Zuko now?" Sokka said walking in the living room from the hall.

"Yeah, I am." Katara said smiling getting her textbook out for homework.

…--…

The next day started out the same. Katara, Aang, Toph, Sokka, and Suki all walked to school together, except today was a little weird. Aang and Toph still hadn't forgiven each other and were not talking at all. They wouldn't even leave together to enter school. Aang waited till Toph was out of sight, trying to pass it off as him just wanting to talk to Katara. Sokka seemed a little out of it too.

…--…

Katara sat in gardening by herself for the last time. She checked the clock. Jun still wasn't here. Jun was supposed to walk her down to the guidance counselor's office so Katara could pick a new elective before the class ended. She guessed that Jun was just going to show up at the very last minute since she didn't have a class to "teach." Katara walked over to her flower pot still sitting next to the window. She bended water from the sink to water it for the last time. She had planted a flower bulb that she had found in a plastic bag among other bulbs in the supply closet. She didn't know what kind of flower it was, which made it a little hard to decide how to care for it, but she was looking forward to caring for it to be rewarded with a surprise flower. Katara loved surprises and stood there thinking what kind of flower it was. Maybe she could come back at the end of the day and take it home with her.

Katara was lost in thought when the door opened. The sound of it closing brought Katara back to the classroom. Jun was here and Katara still wasn't sure which class she wanted to sign up for. She closed her eyes and silently said goodbye to her flower when she heard a friendly voice.

"Sorry I'm late." Katara spun around to see a familiar face smiling at her. "But I guess it doesn't matter since Jun isn't even here." Katara couldn't believe it; Zuko was standing right across from her on the other side of the room in front of the door. He had signed back up for the class on his own accord.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

**The Art of Being Friends**

Zuko walked over to a desk and sat down. Katara chuckled, she _did_ love surprises…

"What kind of plant are you growing?" Zuko asked pointing to her flower pot.

"It's a flower, but I don't know what kind." She said looking back at her plant. Zuko turned in his chair to face her.

"What did the seeds look like?"

"I planted a bulb. I'm thinking it was—"

"Wait you planted a bulb?" Zuko asked standing up and starting to walk over to the pot.

"Yeah, what's wrong?"

"Well you have the pot in the sun." He said picking it up. "For bulbs you put it in a dark airy place until shoots begin to grow." He opened up a cabinet that was under the counter and put the flower pot inside behind a wood panel so that when the cabinet doors would open it would still be in the shade. He opened the doors to the cabinets around that area so air could circulate through there. Katara was impressed.

"How do you know so much about plants?" He looked at her, and then out the window leaning against the counter.

"My mom liked gardening."

"Really?"

"Yeah…" Zuko smiled, remembering his mother. He turned to her. "She used to always spend her time out in the garden, and whenever we would go to the grocery store she would flip through the gardening magazines to get new ideas." Zuko's speech started to speed up as he got more and more excited. "Her garden was so beautiful. You should've seen it. There were flowers everywhere and a pond too. Part of it's still around at my house. It's nothing like it used to be though…" Zuko stopped, thinking about it. The only thing that remained from his mother's garden was a small path with flower beds on either side and the remains of the pond. The path was overrun with weeds and grass that had grown from neglect, along with the flower beds while the pond had been filled in with dirt and rocks on one half and taken over by frogs and algae on the other. You couldn't even tell that it used to be part of an amazing garden. _It really wasn't anything like it used to be._

"Do you have any pictures of it?" Katara asked.

"No…my dad threw them all away…" Zuko sat back down in his desk. Katara realized it probably wasn't the best topic to go into.

"Do you want to plant a flower?" Katara asked. Zuko looked up at her a little surprised.

"Uhhhh…"

"Come on, it's fun!" She said making her way to the supplies closet to get a flower pot for him. He hesitated before getting up and following her to the closet. "Here's the bag I got my bulb from." She said taking a bag out that had a bunch of different flower bulbs in it. Zuko noticed a small bag of seeds. He reached in and pulled out some small, light brown, coffee bean-looking seeds.

"Let's see what these turn into." He said showing Katara.

"Alright." They planted the seeds in the flower pot with some fresh soil.

"Since we're doing this together we should share the plant." Zuko said as he placed the flower pot near the window so it can get some sun. Planting seeds were different than planning flower bulbs.

"You sure?" Katara asked bending water on to the soil.

"Yeah. This can be our plant. I'll plant my own later." He started washing his hands. Katara stepped over the sink and continued to manipulate the water, making it wash her hands for her. Zuko chuckled. "You either really like to waterbend, or you're just trying to show off." Katara smiled.

"I like waterbending. I can't do it in public so when the coast is clear I try to do it as much as I can."

"Yeah, I do the same with firebending…only I don't do it to show off." Zuko shook the extra water off his hands and was about to reach for a towel when he noticed the water peeling off his hands and forming into a floating bubble.

"I do it to help people too." Katara said. Zuko rolled his eyes. He began to walk back to his desk when he noticed something was hovering above him. "I also do it to get even…" He looked up. To his horror the water bubble was right above him. He turned to Katara.

"You wouldn't dare…" She grinned.

"Would I?" Zuko smirked at her. He inhaled and threw back his head spitting out a fireball right at the water. The only thing left was a cloud of steam. Katara blinked at him not expecting that at all.

"I can show off too." He said before sitting down and starting on his homework.

…--…

Toph and Aang were on separate teams again, only this time Aang didn't care. He decided that if Toph wanted to win she could do it by herself without his help. When Aang's team was kicking he sat on the bench watching Toph laughing, heckling the kickers, and acting like her big headed self. Sure Aang was something of a show off himself, but he certainly didn't take it to the extreme. It was Aang's turn to pitch the ball and Toph's team was up to kick. Aang rolled the ball and the kid kicked it. No one caught it and the kid made it to first. Toph burst out laughing.

"Hahaha! Nice one Aang! Looks like you're gunna help us win again after all!" He glared at her while she stuck her tongue out at him. The next kid came and kicked the ball, this time though someone caught it getting him out. Another runner came and made it to first also helping the other runner advance to second. Another kid kicked the ball. He also took a base. The bases were loaded and they only had one out. The other team began to cheer, it was Toph's turn to kick. She walked up to the base and grinned at Aang. "Get ready to have your twinkle toes crushed!" She yelled getting into her stance waiting to feel for the ball. Aang gritted his teeth, _I'll show her…_ He rolled the ball. Toph could feel the vibrations of the ball headed right for her and her grin grew. She got herself ready to kick it when the ball just seemed to vanish. Toph's grin melted to distress. "Wha—what?!" The ball rolled right past her.

"Strike one!" Toph looked confused and more importantly, scared. He pitched the ball again and Toph focused harder. Aang, once again, took a deep breath and blew out air which flew discreetly across the field's orange sand and under the ball lifting it just barely off the ground causing the ball to disappear from Toph's "vision" while it still looked completely normal. If she wanted to cheat, he would too. After all, there were no rules against cheating a cheater right? Toph once again was distressed shuffling her feet desperately for some kind of hint to where the ball was.

"Strike two!"

"Toph what are you doing?!"

"Yeah! Kick the ball!" Her teammates cried from the dug out. As the ball rolled past her she felt a slight breeze pass her feet. She scowled. Aang was airbending the ball. Her blood began to boil and rush through her veins causing her to shake. How dare he take advantage of her blindness. How dare he embarrass her and degrade her in front of the class she had struggled to win over. Sure she had cheated before with earthbending, but him taking advantage of her handicap was just a low blow.

Aang rolled the ball again. She felt the ball rolling. Aang took another breath but before he could breathe out Toph had sent the ground shifting under Aang causing him to lose focus and not airbend the ball. The ball continued to roll towards her as she got ready for the strongest kick she could muster. Aang recovered and quickly moved the earth under the ball right before it got to her to send it rolling off at an angle. Toph kicked, barely grazing the ball with her foot. The force of her kick sent her spinning and falling on the ground while the ball popped in the air and fell down on the ground a few feet in front of her. Although it didn't go too far, it was still in play.

"Get up Toph! Run!" Someone called from her dugout. She got up a bit disoriented and tried to run. The catcher grabbed the ball and tagged home plate causing the runner on third to be out.

"RIGHT HERE!!" Aang yelled. The catcher threw him the ball. Toph was frantically trying to reach first as Aang aimed for her. He pulled his arm back and launched the ball right at her. It hit her squarely in the side; she didn't see it coming.

"OUT!!" The bell rang signaling the end of class. Toph stopped rubbing her side where the ball had hit her and gritted her teeth. If Aang wanted to play dirty, she would too.

…--…

Before Ty Lee headed off to lunch, she thought about Mai. A few days ago Mai had said that she really wanted to talk to her about something but Ty Lee still hadn't talked to her at all. She never seemed to have time. If she wasn't doing something related to school or afterschool activities, she was with Azula. Plus there was the whole fight issue between them. She sat eating her lunch waiting for Mai to show up. As she sat there eating by herself she reflected on the past week. Mai was just looking out for her while still trying to keep Azula in the dark about the two of them. Plus nothing went wrong yet so Ty Lee really didn't have any reason to still be angry with Mai, so she decided that as soon as Mai came she would apologize.

"Hey." Ty Lee spun around to see Azula standing there before sitting down.

"Oh, hi Azula," Ty Lee smiled. She looked around, "Do you know where Mai is?"

"No. I haven't seen her all day. Why? What's up?"

"Nothing. We got into a fight the other day and I wanted to apologize, that's all…" Azula raised her eyebrow.

"What was the fight about?"

"Oh uh…I was just upset that she wouldn't come to tryouts. That's all." Azula starred at her before going back to her lunch.

"Really? You two would fight over something like that?" Ty Lee froze.

"Yeah, it's stupid I know. It was just important to me, and you came so I was hoping she would come and support me too." Azula chuckled.

"Ty Lee, this is Mai we're talking about. You know she wouldn't do anything she didn't want to do just to please someone. She's not that selfless." Ty Lee just looked at Azula calmly eating her lunch.

"You're right. She really doesn't do things for others…" Azula grinned and looked at Ty Lee.

"You're not wearing your lion clip today."

"Oh, yeah." Ty Lee touched her hair pin, it was a little yellow deer. "I just wasn't feeling the lion today." Azula smiled and returned to her lunch.

"It suits you."

…--…

Toph and Aang sat in class not talking to each other. Aang was fine with it. He was busy playing games across the room with the two boys from gym while ignoring Toph.

"Now, can anyone come to the board and solve this problem?" The teacher asked after writing a math problem on the board. The class was silent. Toph kicked the ground which sent Aang's chair flying sharply forward.

"WAHHH!!" He hit is head on the desk. The teacher looked at him.

"Aang, would you like to come to the board please?" Aang rubbed his head and glared at Toph. He got up and made his way to the front. He picked up the piece of chalk and began to write. As he started to solve the problem Toph closed her eyes ad focused hard, grinning. Aang was too busy trying to solve the problem to realize that the chalk dust that collected on the bottom was slowly rising and spelling out profane things about the teacher. Aang's back was blocking this from the class. He finished the problem and put the chalk down. "Ta da!" He turned and smiled to the teacher. He took a step to the left so the class could see his work. To his horror though there was a group gasp followed by silence. He turned to look at the board. Under his work there were small letters written. Aang began to mumble them to himself. "Our teacher is a fu—"

"AANG!!" He spun around to see a very angry teacher.

"BUT I—"

"DETENTION!!" The class was silent. Toph tried to hard to control herself but it was no good. She burst out laughing. Aang glared at her.

"Toph dared me to write it!" He said pointing at her. She stopped and sneered at Aang.

"What?! No I didn't he's lying!"

"Oh please! I don't even know what that word means!"

"SILENCE!!" They stopped and starred at the teacher. "You both can decide whose fault this is in detention…"

"WHAT?!" Toph said disgusted.

"Ha!" Aang said sticking his tongue out while making his way back to his seat. Toph gritted her teeth and caused a bump to magically appear and disappear, causing Aang to trip and fall.

…--…

After school Katara met up with Suki. Sokka had soccer practice today so Katara was hoping to walk home with Suki.

"Hey Suki!"

"Hey Katara."

"Are you headed home?"

"Well, I was actually going to go down and watch the guys play soccer." Katara crossed her arms and smirked at Suki, she blushed. "It's important to support your boyfriend, isn't it?" She said trying to justify her reason for going. Katara laughed.

"I guess it is. Can I come too?" Katara didn't want to walk home alone, besides she could do her homework on the bleachers and then go right to work. She dad left an extra uniform in her locker anyway so she really didn't to go home.

"Of course!" They walked down to the field together. When they got there the boys were warming up doing stretches and some were jogging short laps to warm up their muscles. They spotted Sokka…and Zuko.

"Zuko's on the soccer team?" Katara said as soon as she spotted Zuko.

"Yeah, Sokka convinced him to join. I guess getting Zuko to do something runs in the family." Suki said nudging Katara. She glared at her and took out her journal. She had math problems written down from class and started to work on them. Sokka saw them and waved. Suki waved back smiling. She was a safe distance away so she could look at other guys without Sokka noticing and getting jealous. "Looking good Sokka!!" Suki yelled. Katara looked up to see Sokka playfully posing for Suki. _Way to go Suki_, Katara thought, _just go ahead and feed his ego._

45 minutes into the practice a few of the guys had taken their shirts off. Suki just grinned and wished she had brought binoculars. Zuko was one of the guys.

"Oh wow." Suki said admiring the view. Katara looked up from her journal. She was finished with her math problems and was working on history.

"What?"

"Zuko. I didn't realize how hot he was!" Suki laughed smiling wide at Katara before going back to watching the guys and occasionally waving at Sokka when he looked up at them. Katara couldn't believe how girlish Suki was acting. She turned to look for Zuko. He was dribbling the ball and passed to another player. She blushed and shrugged it off.

"He's ok if you like that sort of thing…"

"Oh right. You're into short bald kids with tattoos." Suki teased giving her a nudge.

"Hey! That's not true! I'm into…" Katara thought for a second. "…personality!" Suki smiled raising her eyebrow at Katara before going back to the practice. Katara went back to her homework a bit annoyed. She liked Aang for a number of reasons. She just couldn't think of one at the moment…

…--…

Mai entered her house and made her way to her room to do her homework and to plan out her trip to Zuko's next weekend. She wanted to talk to Ty Lee and maybe ask her to come visit her, but decided to do this alone. Besides, Ty Lee was probably still mad at her. As she was walking up the stairs the maid walked out to call to her, she was holding a letter.

"Miss, a letter came for you today." Mai froze and starred at her, "I think it's from your man." The maid said giving her a wink. Mai turned and ran down the stairs and grabbed the letter from her. She looked at it. It was from Zuko alright. She ran up to her room and ripped the envelope open.

Dear Mai,

I've very busy and I can't respond to your letters.

I think we should take a break for now and focus

on more important issues. No hard feelings.

-Zuko

Mai's heart stopped and her blood ran cold. She reread it over and over again; _I think we should take a break…No hard feelings…_ Was this really Zuko? It was his handwriting. _I think we should take a break…_ Tears began to form in Mai's eyes. How could he do this and where did this even come from? _No hard feelings…_ She crumpled up the letter and threw it against the wall before collapsing against it, her back sliding down it and her face pointed to the ceiling with tears trickling down.

"Why…why am I attracted to such a jerk…"

…--…

Toph and Aang sat alone in an empty room after school. They were to be in there for one hour with the teacher coming in every so often to check on them.

"I can't believe you." Toph said crossing her arms. "You can't stand to see me have fun can you?"

"How could you call that fun?! How is insulting the teacher and framing your friend fun?"

"Pay back IS fun! Especially when you're doing it to a jerk!"

"I'm the jerk?!"

"Yeah you are!"

"Well, at least I'm not a cheater."

"At least when I cheat I don't take advantage of other's disabilities! That was a dirty and cheap trick you played on me today."

"What about what you did yesterday? You call that fair?! You had fun at my expense and took the fun out of the game for me!"

"You could've blocked it! You still could _see_ the ball and reacted faster and caught it!"

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!"

"No, what's stupid is telling someone a lie when they ask you a question about what something as simple as the sun looks like!"

"Oh come on, it was funny!" Aang said putting his head down.

"Yeah, real funny. Not only did you ruin my picture that I drew for my mom, but you also made me question everything that you've told me!" Aang picked his head up and looked at her. "I do go along with all the blind jokes and I even tell some myself, but that doesn't give you the right to trample all over it and take advantage of it!" All of a sudden Aang did feel like a jerk.

"I'm sorry Toph. I just wanted to get back at you. You hurt me yesterday and I didn't want to let it go…" Toph still scowled at him. "And I didn't mean to ruin your picture. It was just a joke. But I really am sorry about what I did today. You were just having fun and finally enjoying something you used to hate. I'm sorry I got back at you the way I did." Toph sighed.

"I'm sorry too. I just got carried away."

"So are we friends again?" Toph smiled at him.

"Of course we are." Aang smiled back. "I guess it was good that we got detention."

"Yeah. Plus, it was actually pretty funny what you did with the chalk." Toph smiled.

"It was wasn't it?"

"Can you teach me? There's a lot I want to do with that."

"Sure, it's pretty much like sand bending, but it's very fine sand so you have to focus a little more." Toph and Aang walked up to the chalk board, Aang ready for his first lesson.

…--…

After practice the boys began to head to the locker room to shower off. A few boys lingered behind talking to people, packing up, or still playing soccer. Suki ran up to talk to Sokka with Katara right behind her. Zuko was doing some cool down stretches.

"So did you two have fun?" Suki asked.

"It was actually a lot more fun than I thought it would be." Zuko said. Sokka patted him on the back.

"See? I told you you'd like it." Sokka went back to talking to Suki making a couple of poses for her to show off his muscles. Katara had reached them but they were busy flirting so she decided not to walk in. She turned to Zuko to talk to him but as soon as she did she realized he still was shirtless. He was patting himself with a small towel while drinking out of his water bottle. He had his back to her so he couldn't see she was blushing. Katara looked away and composed herself.

"Are you working today Zuko?" She said trying to sound natural. Zuko turned and put his water bottle down.

"I work everyday." He said as he went to put his shirt back on…_Oh good… _Katara thought with a sigh of relief. It would be much easier to talk to him with his shirt on.

"Really? You never have a day off?"

"My Uncle says that I can take a day off if I have a date." He laughed. "You working today?" Zuko began to gather his stuff.

"Yeah. I work at 4." Katara looked at her watch. It was 3:30. "Oh, I should probably get going then…"

"I took my bike today. If you want I can take us to the shop. I have to work at 4 too."

"Really? Ok then, sure." She smiled.

"Alright, I'm gunna rinse off really quick and be right back." Zuko got his stuff and headed to the locker room. Katara calmed herself down. She wasn't betraying Aang. They were just friends and nothing more. And there was certainly no rule against having a hot guy as a friend. Katara turned to find Sokka and Suki making out on the bench. She looked at them and put her hands on her hips.

"Are you two serious?!"

…--…

Ty Lee was on her way home from practice when Azula caught up with her.

"Hey, you got plans today?" She asked. Ty Lee was a bit tired from seeing Azula all the time and wanted to go visit Mai.

"I was just going to go home. I've got a lot of homework to do and I haven't really seen my sisters at all since school's started."

"Oh ok. Can I at least give you a ride home?" Ty Lee smiled.

"That's fine, I really don't want to be a burden…"

"Oh no! It's no trouble at all, come on!" Ty Lee sighed and followed after her. Sure she liked the nice Azula, but it was getting a little annoying.

…--…

Katara and Zuko walked to the front of the school where Zuko's bike was. His bike had a basket in the front for his stuff. There was also a flat package carrier over the back wheel. He was going to put his school bag in the basket and strap his gym bag on the back but since he was taking Katara he just kept his backpack on and put his other bag in the basket.

"You can sit on the back. I'll try not to run over too many bumps." He said as he unchained his bike, sat down on it, and backed it up for her. She sat down on the package carrier with both her legs on the right side of the bike (she was wearing a skirt after all). She held on to the back of his bike seat. Zuko pushed off and began to pedal. He started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Katara asked.

"You're a lot heavier than I thought you'd be." Katara scowled at Zuko hitting his arm. That assault caused Zuko to swerve the bike and Katara to lose her balance. To keep from falling she flung her arms around Zuko's waist. "Careful" was all he said. She looked up at Zuko. He was looking forward paying attention to where he was riding. She couldn't see his face. The bike was riding smoothly again and Katara went back to holding on to the seat while watching the buildings and streets whish past them enjoying the air rushing over her face and through her hair. She suddenly wanted a bike.

Zuko wished he hadn't made the comment about Katara's weight. Although her hands were back to their starting position he couldn't help but blush about what just happened. He hoped she couldn't see. _Just friends and nothing more…_ he kept telling himself over and over again in his head. Although the tea shop was just a 10 minute ride from school, it was the longest bike ride he'd ever been on.

…--…

"So Sokka…" Suki said squeezing his hand as they walked down the street towards Sokka's place, "When are you gunna teach me that dance?" Sokka looked at her.

"What dance?"

"The waltz. It looks romantic and I wouldn't mind learning it."

"Oh…" Sokka looked down, "_that_ dance…"

"Well?" Suki asked smiling.

"I don't think I know it that well to teach it…" Suki's smile faded.

"Oh…well that's ok. We can still learn other dances." Sokka turned to her and smiled.

"I really prefer tango anyway." He said swooping her up in his arms and planting a kiss on her cheek.

…--…

"Zuko," Uncle said as he came out of his office to see his nephew walk by with trays, "a letter came for you today. When your break starts you can go and read it. It's on the dining table in the kitchen." Zuko smiled, _it must be from Mai._ After hearing that though the time seemed to drag. Finally it was his break and Zuko rushed up the stairs into the apartment. He grabbed the envelope and tore it open to read the letter.

Zuko,

I got all your stupid letters. You can

send more but I'd rather hear about

what my jerk is up to than hear about

your feelings, you dumb jerk. I want

to know what's going on, not be

bored to tears about stupid stuff I could

care less about. Take care of yourself,

jerk.

-Mai

Zuko read the letter again. Mai really liked calling him a jerk…

…--…

Katara saw Zuko come back down.

"Hey! Was the letter from Mai?" He looked up at her.

"Yeah…yeah it was."

"Well what did she say?"

"Well…she thinks I'm a jerk…" Katara blinked. Mai sure was a…_interesting_ girl.

"So…is that a good thing?"

"I guess…" Zuko didn't look certain though. He knew Mai didn't really wear her heart on her sleeve, but was she really that cold? Katara wanted to say something but just as she was about to the door opened.

"Katara!" It was Aang and Toph.

"Aang! Toph!" She moved quickly towards them. "You finally came."

"We kinda got detention." Aang said rubbing the back of his head. Toph smiled and punched him.

"It was fun though."

"Here, I'll seat you guys at a table." Katara said after hugging Aang. Zuko watched as she led them to a table and started to chat with them while they looked over the tea menu. He watched Aang and Katara interact. Why couldn't his relationship be like that?

…--…

Ty Lee signed on to her computer. Mai wasn't on. She tried calling her but she wouldn't pick up either. Ty Lee called back again and left a message.

"Hey Mai, it's me. I know we haven't really talked too much since I've been busy and…well since Azula won't seem to leave me alone…but I wanted to let you know that I'm sorry. For everything. I know it hasn't really been that long but I already miss talking to you. Give me a call back when you can. Thanks."

Ty Lee laid down on her bed and began her homework. As soon as she was almost halfway done her phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey, I got your message."

"Mai!" Ty Lee noticed Mai's voice was gloomier than normal… "Is something wrong?"

"I got a letter from Zuko today."

"That's great!" Ty Lee smiled.

"…he wants to take a break…"

"…wha—what?"

"Yeah…" Ty Lee could hear Mai suppressing a sob, "…we're just friends again."


End file.
